American and European PSX launch delayed

TOKYO--Following the PSX's lukewarm reception in Japan, Sony will be delaying its release of the console in America and Europe. In an interview with Bloomberg, Sony Electronics America president Hideki Komiyama stated that the PlayStation 2/DVD recorder hybrid will not be released in America until sometime during 2005. The PSX will see a similar delay in Europe, although Sony hopes to release it there by the end of the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2005.

Komiyama said the reason for the PSX launch's postponement in America and Europe was so that Sony could make the machine more appealing to its customers in the two regions. In order to make the PSX competitive against other DVD recorders in the American market, Sony is rushing to add as-yet-unrevealed additional specifications and functions to the PSX. The PSX was originally released in Japan last December without previously announced capabilities like MP3 and DVD-RW compatibility, and its sales in the country are still lagging.

When Sony originally announced the PSX last October, its plans were to record 1 million worldwide unit sales by the end of 2004, a goal made all but impossible, given the new 2005 Euro-American launch. Talking to Bloomberg, Ikegin Capital analyst Masayuki Ito commented that while the delay looks bad, its effect on Sony's stock price should not be too big. "It's difficult to imagine that there's a lot of anticipation [for the PSX from overseas] when considering its sales situation within Japan. It [the PSX] doesn't seem to have been counted in much as a part of the company's fiscal forecast, so the delay's influence towards Sony's stock price should be limited."

Sony's shares closed today at 4,000 yen ($36.99), down 40 yen ($3.7).