Sony issued a press release today to counter claims a Dutch website has made about the new 40GB model having a 40% failure rate. The press release states that Sony Computer Entertainment Europe can categorically deny such rates and that the 40GB PS3 has encountered the same industry leading, very low failure rates, comparable to the low level failure rates of the 60GB PS3.

David Reeves, President, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe: “We are very proud of the quality and reliability of PLAYSTATION 3 and are disappointed that such extremely sloppy journalism has resulted in this totally inaccurate story. Since launching the 40GB PS3, we have experienced a fantastic jump in sales and the failure rates have remained at the very low level that we not only strive for, but have been achieving since the launch of PS3.”

The Dutch site in question is Gamed.nl and the story has been now removed from their site.