Sony PSP Takes Off

Almost 40,000 Sony PSPs have been sold in Australia in the past 2 weeks. Launched late last month the PSP is set to be a “Must Have” this Xmas.

Sony Computer Entertainment Austtralia has almost met an ambitious target of selling 40,000 PlayStation Portable handheld games machines within two weeks of the devices’ local release, with sales monitoring agency GfK Marketing confirming yesterday that some 34,172 units were sold in the 14 days to September 11, 2005.

Some 20,000 units were pre-ordered before the Australian launch on September 1. According to SCE’s Adrian Christie, “a few”
customers did not pick up their pre-ordered units, but the launch had nevertheless been more successful than any other gaming device launch in recent years. The 34,172 confirmed sales represent retail-level revenue of more than $13.3 million, within sight of the forecast $16 million.
They cast some doubt, however on SCE Australia’s forecast of 250,000 sales worth $100 million by Christmas, aided by a $5 million promotional blitz (CDN Aug. 11).

Sony badly wants the PSP to outsell Apple’s iPod in Australia this Christmas, after the iPod stole No 1 retail spot from Sony last year.

One rival the PSP won’t have to face at Christmas is Microsoft’s new Xbox 360 console. Microsoft yesterday confirmed that it would not be launched in Australia until 2006, despite announcing a November 22 date for the UK release and December 2 for Europe. The PSP will still face new competition at the lower end before Christmas, with Nintendo launching its $179 dual-screen DS handheld on September 22, and the $150 Game Boy Micro on November 3.

Undeterred, Sony is looking to 330-380,000 PSP unit sales in Australia by the end of March. The company claims the PSP is much more than a games machine, since it can also play music, show photos and full-length Hollywood movies.

The PSP weighs 280 grams, has a 4.3-inch wide-screen high-res display, built-in stereo speakers and 32 megs of main memory.

Should be a great little stocking stuffer.