Sony Computer's PS3 seen overtaking Nintendo's Wii despite delay - report

TOKYO (XFN-ASIA) - Sony Computer Entertainment Inc's unprecedented pre-release domestic price cut on its PlayStation 3 (PS3) is expected to help the console outsell Nintendo Co's Wii by the end of 2007, despite the postponement of its European launch, The Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported, citing figures from Enterbrain Inc.

With both next-generation systems due out at year-end, the game magazine publisher projects that cumulative sales through the end of March will total 4.13 mln units for the PS3 and 5.47 mln for the Wii, the report said.

But PS3 sales are seen topping the Wii's by the end of 2007 as more software becomes available and because further price reductions are expected.

Microsoft Corp's Xbox 360, released in late 2005, is not very popular in Japan, the report said, although its sales are growing in the US and Europe, and its cumulative sales are predicted to reach 17.46 mln units by the end of 2007.