Sony Massages PSP Numbers

Company rattles off big shipment numbers, but that doesn't seem to be the whole story.

If the Sold Out signs weren't enough proof for you, Sony has come with official numbers that confirm what you likely already suspected: the PSP is popular - very popular.

As of this week, Sony has shipped 10 million PSPs worldwide since its debut in Japan in early December. This impressive feat, achieved in just 10 months, gives the PSP, Sony reckons, the "fastest penetration" of any PlayStation product.

The biggest region for the handheld is North America, where around 4.5 million PSPs have landed in the last seven months. Japan is a bit behind with 3 million units, followed surprisingly closely by Europe (and other PAL regions, including Australia), which has seen shipments of 2.5 million PSPs in the last month.

But behind the smiles and self-congratulations, hard sales figures perhaps tell a different story.

Official numbers are difficult to come by, but a press release from Sony this week, to announce the launch of the PSP Giga Pack, says that just over a million PSPs have been sold in Europe since the handheld's launch on 1 September. Another report says that actual sales in North America are standing at around 2.5 million.

Does this mean that there are millions of PSPs sitting in stock rooms and on store shelves throughout the world? It seems so. Kaz Hirai, president of Sony in America, said recently that his company is hoping to sell 2.5-3 million PSPs this Christmas in North America alone.

Another worrying statistic is the relatively abysmal uptake of the console in its home country. The PSP has only been on sale in Europe for a month and already shipments are rivalling those of Japan.

A recent survey suggest hat the big reason the Japanese are holding back on picking up a PSP is because there aren't many interesting games to buy.

Perhaps this, too, is the reason why movie sales have been as impressive as they have.

Worldwide PSP game shipments have reached just under 20 million units already. The early reluctance of studios to get their movies onto UMDs has since faded and worldwide movie shipments, at 15 million units as of September, are threatening those of games.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games