PSP seasonally adjusted

PSP's Australian launch date has slipped again. Until now, Sony's only official word on the launch date had been "first quarter 2005", with everyone expecting a late March debut. Today the official line on the Australian Playstation website changed to "Autumn 2005". That's somewhere in the range of March to May. Realistically, it suggests May.

No doubt the delay has a lot to do with how many PSPs Sony are capable of producing right now. They can't service all the world's markets at once yet. The impending US release will certainly provide demand for a large number of units. Sony are expected to have half a million of them ready to sell in the US on March 24. Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Asia will have to wait until Sony can produce sufficient stock to launch the PSP successfully in those regions. Despite huge demand, Sony have still sold just under a million PSPs in Japan, where the console has now been available for almost two and a half months.

The delay will probably lead many eager gamers to import a PSP. While there's been no official word on price, current estimates put the PSP's Australian RRP at around $400. If this turns out to be true, then importing a PSP from Canada would be a cheaper option.

All of this is good news for Nintendo, whose DS goes on sale in Australia for $199 this Thursday. Sony's delay should translate into better sales for the DS in the short term, allowing the DS to build a stronger user-base before the PSP hits the market.