Sony hit by PlayStation delay

Sony’s next-generation portable game machine, the PlayStation Vita, will not be available in the US or Europe in time for Christmas – a crucial sales period for game console makers.

Expectations had been high the machine would be ready worldwide for the Christmas season. Sony earlier promised a “phased global rollout” starting late this year.

Sony Corp Executive Deputy President Kazuo Hirai said the PlayStation Vita will go on sale by the end of the year in Japan, and early next year in the US and Europe.

Koki Shiraishi, electronics analyst for Daiwa Securities Capital Markets in Tokyo, said missing Christmas was a serious setback, especially overseas.

“That’s when you do half your year’s sales,” he said. “This is going to prove painful for Sony.”

The Vita delay comes at a difficult time for Sony.

Sony, which reported a 15.5 billion yen (€142m) loss for the April-June quarter, has suffered supply problems because of the March disasters in north-eastern Japan.

It was also hit by a massive online security breach around the world, affecting more than 100 million online accounts.