Sony said today that it will delay the launch of its PlayStation 3 by half a year until November, boosting Microsoft's efforts to win a bigger share of the
multi-billion dollar video game industry.
The delay, for technical reasons, will give the company more time to prepare for the crucial Thanksgiving Day US holiday in late November, Sony Computer Entertainment President Ken Kutaragi said today.
The next-generation home video game console is one of Sony's core products and its success against Microsoft's already-launched Xbox 360 is considered vital to its revival after a profit slump. Kutaragi said the group was aiming to initially ship one million PlayStation 3 consoles each month. Sony plans a simultaneous global launch.
Investors are concerned that the company may not be able to produce enough of the new consoles in time for the crucial end-of-year shopping period.
Sony has long dominated the home video-game market and in November the group said its shipments of the PlayStation 2 console had topped 100 million since March 2000, including 22.2 million in Asia alone. Microsoft aims to sell 5.5 million Xbox 360 consoles by July.
