The much-anticipated Xperia Play has been hit with supply chain issues in China, delaying shipments expected this week in the UK by another week. Speaking to The Telegraph, Managing Director Nathan Vautier confirmed the issue at the London launch party for the device. Phones4u, however, have confirmed customers will still be able to get their hands on the device this week.
In related news, O2 have decided to delay the launch of the Xperia Play on their network in order to carry out testing on the device"s software. It seems, apparently, that O2 is not confident in the reliability of the software, electing to delay the launch by a bit instead of experiencing a potential backlash from unhappy customers. Vodafone and Three have also announced delays, though this is due to the previously mentioned supply chain issues.
Dubbed the Playstation Phone by the tech media, the phone has been hit with an array of problems. Leaked prototype units have been making themselves known on gadget blogs, and even in the run up to release, first reviews are strikingly lukewarm. Build quality of the device has been criticised, as well as the game selection and included software. Xperia Play is seemingly shaping up to not be the Playstation Phone that everyone wanted, but if the device follows Sony"s previous Playstation strategies, they"ll be in it for the long run, shaky launch or not.