Sony To Raise PSP Sales Target For Korea

According to remarks made to the South Korean Yonhap News Agency late last week by Sony Computer Entertainment Korea president and chief executive officer, Yoon Yeo-eul, Sony is increasing its sales targets for the PSP handheld in the country, following a successful launch. "Being realistic, I think it's possible to raise the PSP sales target in South Korea by 20% to 30%," Yoo-eul commented, revealing that 130,000 PSPs have already been sold in the territory following the handheld's May 2nd debut, and that the newest predictions for the end of the fiscal year (March 2006) indicate sales figures of 500,000 in South Korea alone. The South Korean PSP, which costs 328000 won ($322 USD), comes bundled with a Nespot Internet Service Network Utility Disc UMD, as well as the packed-in Spider-Man 2 movie UMD. The Nespot UMD allows web browsing, and eventually TV and music on demand, via the PSP's Wi-Fi connection. It's obvious that South Korea is still a somewhat smaller market compared to major Japanese, U.S., and European territories - the PSP sold over 600,000 units in its first week of North American release, for example. However, the inception of Sony Korea-developed regional titles for the PlayStation 2 (such as EyeToy EduKids) and the bundling of Internet services with the PSP in the online-heavy country shows that Sony is keen to regionalize content where necessary. Nonetheless, with the DS also launched in South Korea, and Nintendo Korea recently announcing a number of variant colors for the DS hardware, only the second country behind Japan to receive them, a similar Nintendo/Sony battle for handheld market share is likely to be conducted in multiple regions of the world, including Korea, with the overall winner as yet uncertain.