SCEA president reveals final quarter sales targets for PSP and PS2

In a surprisingly optimistic forecast for pre-Christmas sales in the US, SCEA president and CEO Kaz Hirai has stated that the company expects to sell 2-3 million PSPs before the beginning 2006.

Ina telephone interview with Reuters, the Sony boss stated: "We're going to try to double the installed base between now and the end of the year." Figures suggest that the current installed base in the US is approximately 2.5 million, which leaves a substantial gap to be filled in just a couple of months if Sony are going to come anywhere close to achieving that target.

The company has recently announced a new 'Giga Pack' PSP bundle, which includes a 1GB Memory Sick Duo in place of the standard 32MB memory stick. The new pack will be available in the UK and Ireland from November 21st, with EMEA territories following a week later. Sony plans to release the pack in North America, although no release date has been announced. Launching the Giga Pack in the US before Christmas would undoubtedly assist the company greatly in achieving its goal.

In a fresh statement looking more broadly at all world territories where the machine has been released, Sony announced that PSP shipments have now reached ten million (although how many of those have sold through to consumers isn't revealed), with software sales hitting 20 million units and UMD movies selling 15 million.

Hirai also forecast PS2 sales of between 2.5 and 3 million units before the end of the year. The company is preparing to launch a new silver edition of its slimline PS2 in Japan on November 23rd. The system will be released at an open price, which means retailers are free to offer competitive pricing without reference to Sony recommendations. Japan already has the traditional black version of the machine, in addition to a limited edition ceramic white machine released earlier in the year.