PSP no sell-out: Sony confirms North American figures

Sony Computer Entertainment America has announced official sales figures for the PlayStation Portable launch last month, confirming analyst reports that the system only sold through just over half of its shipment in the first week.

Over half a million units were sold in the first weekend, while first week sales of the PS2 value pack are reported to have driven $150 million through tills - accounting for around 600,000 units, which is in line with estimates from companies including Credit Suisse First Boston.

The figures are healthy by comparison with previous product launches in the space - the Nintendo DS, for example, shipped half a million units in North America before Christmas and took over a week to work through that initial shipment.

However, Sony - used to sell-out launches for all of its new console hardware - may be somewhat disappointed that the PSP failed to sell through more of its initial allocation of a million units.

News that 400,000 PSP units remained on US retail shelves in the week after launch will also rankle with European consumers, who saw the launch in this territory shoved back to ensure that the USA was well-stocked at launch. Europe may now have to wait until September before the system arrives here.

SCEA boss Kaz Hirai dismissed any notion that the launch had been disappointing, however, stating that "the launch of PSP was everything we hoped for, with extraordinary consumer demand driving sales of hardware units alone upwards of $150 million in first week sales, far and away above those generated by any other product in the space."

"In only two weeks, PSP is having an immediate impact across the entire industry as consumers are clearly voting it the product of the year in 2005," he concluded.