Sony reaffirms 11 million PS3 shipment goal

From the PlayStation 3's November 2006 release through the end of Sony's fiscal year the following March, the electronics giant shipped 5.5 million systems to retailers worldwide. Although the system didn't fly off the shelves as quickly as Sony had hoped, the company projected that it would double shipments to 11 million for the current financial year, which runs through March of 2008.

According to a Reuters report, Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Kaz Hirai told the news service in an interview that the company is on track to hit its 11 million goal. To help reach that goal, Hirai also said Sony may acquire more developers so it can create exclusive titles to drum up consumer demand. However, Sony won't purchase studios just because it can.

"Talks of an acquisition would emerge only when a company already has tight relations with us, its corporate culture is compatible with ours, its employees are working closely with us, and it can churn out strong software titles," Hirai told Reuters.

Earlier this week, Sony announced the acquisitions of Evolution Studios (MotorStorm), including its Bigbig Studios subsidiary (Pursuit Force). Financial terms of that deal were not disclosed.