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To: John Walliker who wrote (29406)	9/13/1999 5:34:00 AM
From: unclewest	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 93625

TOKYO, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Sony Corp set the dates on Monday for the new version of its star profit earner, the PlayStation game machine, to reach the shops after a delay which has already meant missing this year's Christmas sales season. The state-of-the art PlayStation 2 console will be launched in Japan in March, in other Asian countries next summer, and in the United States and Europe next autumn. It will be priced at 39,800 yen ($368) in Japan, where a staggering one million units will be shipped in the first week, officials at Sony Computer Entertainment, a Sony unit, told a news conference. Industry sources say Sony had earlier told its parts and chip makers that sales of PlayStation 2 would begin within this year, although the company, which holds the number-one position in the $6.3 billion a year video game industry, had made no official statements on an exact launch date. Analysts have speculated that Sony's lack of experience in turning out super-fast chips to be used in the new console may have contributed to the delay. Sales of the the current PlayStation account for around 40 percent of Sony's consolidated operating profit. For now, Sega Enterprises Ltd has beaten rivals Sony and Nintendo Co Ltd to the punch with its already released $199 Dreamcast machine, the first to feature 128-bit computer chip technology and Internet capability. The Dreamcast enjoyed whopping first-day sales of near $100 million when it hit the U.S. market last Thursday, double the company's original estimate. Its success is seen as make or break for Sega after its predecessor, the 1995 Sega Saturn, flopped badly. Since then, the company has seen its U.S. market share slide to one percent from 50 percent in the early 1990s. But while the PlayStation's later-than-expected start date may give Sega some breathing space, analysts believe Sony will not cede too much ground to its rival. Many consumers are likely to be willing to wait for PlayStation 2 -- which as well as being super fast and Internet capable is also the first ``backwards compatible' console allowing existing Sony games to be used on it. Nintendo, which holds the number-two position in the market, also plans a new-generation game console, the Dolphin, in time for the 2000 Christmas shopping season. On Monday, Sony's shares closed up 650 yen or 4.55 percent at 14,930. Details of the PlayStation 2 launch were released after the close of trade.