PSP sales hit 800,000 as Sony pledges higher production

Shipments of the PlayStation Portable console have reached 800,000 in Japan since the system launched last month, and Sony has now pledged to increase output by April in order to accommodate overseas launches.

The new shipment figure was announced by Sony Computer Entertainment boss Ken Kutaragi at a press conference in Tokyo, where he also reaffirmed the company's commitment to launching the PSP in North America and Europe by the end of March.

Monthly production of the PSP is set to increase by 100,000 units to a million units a month in April, which will help to meet the demand of the overseas launches, according to Kutaragi.

Production levels will continue to ramp up throughout the year, with two million units a month being targeted by Summer, and a final target of three million units per month thought to be the goal for next Christmas.

Addressing the low shipment numbers of the PSP to date, Kutaragi confessed that the sales figures are disappointing, but pointed out that this is down to lack of supply rather than lack of demand.

"I must admit (sales) are not big enough yet," he commented. "But demand is so strong that we already do not have enough supply... [800,000 units] is not a small volume, but it's not good enough to satisfy the market either."

Kutaragi also confirmed that Sony is hoping to add mobile phone technology and communications functions to the PSP "in the not too distant future," and said that a web browser for the device is on the way - but he downplayed rumours of a word processor and spreadsheet module, saying that these programs would be difficult to operate on a handheld console.