According to Taiwan's DigiTimes, Sony have recently "placed significant orders for key Sony PS3 components" from local manufacturers, waaaaay above the quantities they normally source. Interesting.
They say it's enough parts to produce one million PS3 consoles in the third quarter of 2009, which is apparently twice as many as were manufactured last quarter.
DigiTimes' sources then specifically mention that alongside those "key components," shipments of time division synchronizers, also used by Sony in the PS3, are waaaayyy up as well.
What does this all mean? Well, either Sony are expecting a significant increase in demand for the currently not-that-in-demand PS3, or...well, they're building an all-new PS3.
I know which of those two scenarios I think is more likely.
Sony PS3 components demand growing significantly [DigiTimes (subscription required)]