CES 07: 1m PS3s shipped in NA in '06

LAS VEGAS--With the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show kick-off just one day away, Sony held a press briefing Sunday afternoon to show off some of its upcoming products. But just as the PlayStation division represents only one of many businesses the company runs, so too was the game segment of the presentation just one element in a sea of announcements for new TVs, camcorders, PCs, Blu-ray players, and all other manner of electronics for which the company is known.

And in comparison to last year's grandiose CES keynote address delivered by Sony Corp. CEO Howard Stringer--which included appearances by actor Tom Hanks and Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown--today's event was a nearly intimate affair. The invite-only gathering was attended by approximately 300 journalists, analysts, and assorted Sony execs and was held in the company's CES show floor booth. Stringer had a nonspeaking role, acknowledging restrained applause when introduced at the top of the 50-minute press conference.

In the portion of the event devoted to the company's game business, Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) senior vice president of marketing Peter Dille took to a side stage inside the booth to announce that the company had shipped 1 million PlayStation 3 units into the North American retail channel by the end of December.

In September, SCEA head of corporate communications Dave Karraker said the company's goal was to ship 1 million to 1.2 million PS3 systems to North America by the end of the year.

Dille also repeated Sony's goal of shipping 6 million PS3s worldwide by the end of March. The electronics giant will launch the PS3 in several new regions that month, including Europe, Russia, the Middle East, Africa, and Australia/Asia.