Sony Toasts European PS3 Launch

But future staff cuts usher in a foul mood.

Sony chief executive Howard Stringer was in Japan this week to kick off what the company is hoping will be a strong summer for new comic book flick Spider-Man 3. The Welshman would have spent a lot of his time in the country openly rooting for the web-head, but games were on his mind too.

Stringer said at the launch of the movie in Tokyo on Monday that the PlayStation 3 had sold nearly 800,000 units in Europe, according to the Financial Times. He reportedly pointed to the numbers as proof that Sony had weathered the "perception wars" that dogged sales of the console in Japan.

The PS3 was released in Europe in late March and sold more than 600,000 units during its first week. Since then sales have slumped, even as stores started to discount the £425 console.

Strong as the European launch was, though, not everyone sees things going as easily for Sony this time around.

The Financial Times quotes analyst Yuji Fujimori, who said that he expects Sony to grab a third of the hardware market in the short term and half of it by 2010.

Meanwhile, Sony is tightening its belt in Europe. The company has been in touch with its staff in the region this week, advising workers that there will be job cuts soon, according to sources at the company.

In the US, Sony is acting on customer desires by dropping the 20 GB model of the PlayStation 3, which a Sony spokesman said recently was only seeing a tenth of the demand of the more expensive 60 GB model. The company is reportedly considering releasing a system with a bigger hard drive.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo