With the recent news on both the 80GB PS3 being discontinued in Japan, and the listing of the PS3 Slim on Amazon Germany, much more weight has been given to the rumors of the PS3 Slim. To further add merit to these rumors, something mysterious is happening within Sony, involving PS3 production numbers.

According to Taiwan’s DigiTimes, Sony has recently “placed significant orders for key Sony PS3 components”, with higher numbers then what they normally order. DigiTimes says that the components are enough to manufacture up to a million PlayStation 3’s by the third quarter of 2009. This number, is more than double of what was produced last year.

The sources for DigiTimes also say that the shipments of time division synchronizers, which are used by Sony for the PS3, are reaching higher shipment orders then usual.

What does this mean? Well, either Sony is preparing just in case if the PS3 goes suddenly in demand, or that they are prepping a new PS3 console … perhaps the PS3 Slim?

[Source]