Reuters reports us that Sony has announced today that they will delay the launch of their PSP handheld console in
the US and Europe to 2005. The Sony PSP is Sony's first entry into the handheld
market and from we've heard
so far, it will be an
awesome device capable of playing movies, music and games. According to Sony the
reason for the delay is that the company wants more time to prepare game
software:
 The electronics and entertainment conglomerate said the handheld
video game device, PSP, would still be released in Japan this year, but
some analysts also questioned that target. "We'd be very surprised if it
was ready at the end of the year," said Hiroshi Kamide, an analyst at KBC
Securities. "It will be a huge struggle to get something out by
Christmas."
Sony Computer Entertainment of America
spokeswoman Molly Smith said Sony was now looking to launch the PSP in
North America by March 2005. An SCE official in Japan said it was also
targeting an early 2005 launch for Europe. The company had said previously
that it aimed to release the new machine in the U.S. and Europe sometime
this year.
"We want to ensure that the product launch is
really well supported and that the development community will have time to
optimize content," Smith said. "The portable space is a new domain... and
we want to ensure that when this thing is launched that we are able to
demonstrate what this thing can do."
Sony unveiled some of the PSP's
specifications to game developers last year, but gaming Web sites are rife
with rumors that last-minute changes could see an increase in memory size,
while omitting certain functions, such as MP3 compatability.
Game publishers have said recently they
expect worldwide shipments of as many as five million units of the PSP by
March 2005, though those estimates had assumed a simultaneous launch in
the United States and Japan.
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So I guess we'll have to wait another year before
we'll see the Sony PSP here in Europe. Little information is known about the
price of the PSP although publishers are largely assuming games will sell in a
range of US$ 30 to US$ 40 and the unit itself will sell for US$ 199 to US$ 249.
You can read the complete article here and here (continued).
Source: Reuters
