Sony sets 150m sales target for PS3

Wants to beat the PS2 record

21 July 2008 12:33 GMT / By Verity Burns

Sony Computer Entertainment's CEO Kaz Hirai has said that he wants the PlayStation 3 to exceed the sales of the ever-popular PlayStation 2 console.

Hirai has set the rather ambitious target of 150 million consoles within a similar time frame - to date, the PS2 has sold over 140 million since it first went on sale 9 years ago.

"It’s not fun for me replicating the PS2 numbers. I’ve seen that movie already", he said.

"I want to try to see if we can exceed the PS2 numbers after nine years, otherwise why are we in this business?"

It will certainly be a task. It's been twenty months since the PS3 was released, and the console is barely even 10% towards the target. Sales at the end of March were 12.85m, with another 10m expected to be sold in this current fiscal year.

The PS3 has generally trailed behind in sales compared to its competitors, 360 and Wii, but has seen a little boost in numbers recently thanks to the release of Metal Gear Solid 4. It outsold the 360 by nearly two-to-one in June in America.

A major factor many have stated as being the problem with PS3 sales figures is the price, currently the highest out of the "big three" at around £299.99.

Michael Pachter, video games analyst at Wedbush Morgan Securities, said he expected PS3 sales would accelerate if Sony could cut the price significantly.

"It’s highly likely that when the PS3 gets below $200, it will sell as well as the PS2."

This could be a problem. The costs of investing in the PS3 are huge mainly due to its internal Blu-ray disc player and its powerful "Cell" chip. Even at its current price, Sony are losing money on every PlayStation sold, so to lower the price that dramatically would be a tough decision for Mr. Hirai.