Will Sony sell one million PSP consoles during the US launch?

The supply chain is Sony’s biggest challenge. Via Reuters, Image via Portagme.

Sony Corp hopes that more than a million gamers will buy their new PSP game console when it launches hours from now. Sony has built up inventories and -should- have five times more consoles available for the US launch, compared to the Japanese one. In Japan, 200.000 units were sold in a couple of days.

Over here, the major electronics retailers (Best Buy, Circuit City…) are all expecting to have waiting lines. They hinted that the pre-orders numbers were really good. “We’ve experienced phenomenal customer response to pre-orders of the PSP,” said Amy Colella, a spokeswoman for Walmart.com. The demand was so high that Sony diverted production initially planned for the European launch. Obviously the Euro launch itself was pushed back by months, at least.

Sony’s computer division that encompasses the game consoles is what keeps the whole company afloat. Last year video games were 40% of Sony’s profit and it’s the most solid dollar generator that the company has until it can figure out a way of being once again a dominant figure in consumer electronics.