Macworld » Software

Shipments of Sony's PSP hit 10 million

by Martyn Williams, IDG News Service, MacCentral

Worldwide shipments of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.’s PlayStation Portable (PSP) reached 10 million on Friday, the company said the same day.

The handheld gaming device, Sony’s first foray into the portable gaming market, was launched on Dec. 12, 2004, in Japan and went on sale in North America in March this year, Asia in May and Europe in September. By hitting 10 million units in 10 months, it’s become the fastest selling PlayStation gaming product, said the company.

SCEI has shipped the greatest number of PSPs in North America. Shipments there totaled 4.5 million units and are followed in the ranking by Japan, at 3 million, and then Europe, at 2.5 million, it said.

By September this year, there were 183 software titles available and total shipments of games had reached 19.6 million units.

While gaming lies at the heart of the PSP, the device is capable of more. Audio and video support were included in the PSP when it launched and subsequent software updates have added a Web browser and a client for Sony Corp.’s Location Free TV device. The latter product allows users to stream TV from their homes across the Internet to either computers running Sony’s client or to a PSP.