PlayStationÆ 2 Worldwide Shipments Reach Ten Million Units In First Year Of Release

North American Product Shipments To Hit Three Million Unit Target By End Of Month

26-Mar-01

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. announced that it had achieved cumulative worldwide shipments of ten million units to support its groundbreaking PlayStationÆ 2 computer entertainment system in its first year on the market. In comparison, the PlayStation game console achieved the ten million-unit shipment milestone over a three-year period. Given that PlayStation 2 production is currently tracking twice the pace of PlayStation, the company is looking to nearly double PlayStation 2 shipments during fiscal year 2002, beginning April 1, 2001, with a projected worldwide target of 20 million units. The shipment figures and the launch date for each territory are as follows:PlayStation 2 worldwide shipments (as of March 23, 2001):Japan (Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.) 4.65 million units, March 4, 2000 launch North America (Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.) 2.76 million units, October 26, 2000 launch Europe/PAL (Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Limited) 2.63 million units, November 24, 2000 launch""We are pleased to announce that five months after the introduction of PlayStation 2 in North America the company is on target to meet the three million unit shipment projection for this market by March 31, the end of our fiscal year,"" said Kazuo Hirai, President and Chief Operating Officer, Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc. ""Vigorous sales of PlayStation 2 hardware and software further demonstrate the mass market appeal of the PlayStation brand and illustrates the company's ongoing dominance in this highly competitive category.""As demand for PlayStation 2 continues to soar, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. is taking the necessary steps to ensure that it will continue to satisfy consumer demand for the product in all markets worldwide. Aimed at achieving the shipment forecast for the 2002 fiscal year of 20 million units, the company expects to increase PlayStation 2 monthly production capacity from 1.5 million units in the spring to 2 million units this fall.With unsurpassed support from the world's premier software developers and publishers, PlayStation 2 is the most widely supported platform in history. In addition to the more than 73 PlayStation 2 titles available for the system today, the product offers the broadest software catalog ever created, including the capability of playing more than 1,000 titles available for the PlayStation and PS oneô consoles in North America.