That dosnt make a whole lot of sense. Either it dosnt require a HD (like the 360) or it does. But if it does, then shipping them seperately wouldnt make any sense since a PS3 without one would be basically a doorstop.
As it's being called the basic model (60 GB) maybe there are some wires crossed somewhere along the way.
This is kind of interesting from Eurogamer.
"PlayStation 3 will also be fully backwards compatible with PS2 and PSone games, Kutaragi said, and all of them will be playable in "high-definition" resolutions".
Another example of wire crossing.
Sony's aiming to ship six million units this financial year (earlier direct reports used the phrase "by the end of 2006", but we now understand Kutaragi referenced Sony's financial year, which ends in March 2007), at the rate of one million units per month from release onward (which still doesn't quite make sense unless they kick off with two million, but then pinches of salt ought to be handed out at the door when it comes to "Sony" and "dates").
Obviously the best thing about the "delay" as long as your not in Japan is you actually get the thing sooner than you would had they stuck to the original plan.