PlayStation 3 delayed in Europe to March

When Sony's PlayStation and PlayStation 2 consoles launched worldwide, there was up to nine months between the Japanese and European releases. So European gamers rejoiced when, at this year's E3, it was announced that the PlayStation 3 launch would take place worldwide over a matter of weeks in November.

However, this morning Sony has issued a statement saying that the PS3 release date has been put back to March 2007 in Europe, Russia, the Middle East, Africa and Australasia. Sony cited "the delay in the mass production schedule of the blue laser diode within the Sony Group" as the reason for the postponement. The blue laser diode is a critical component in the PS3's Blu-ray drive.

The Japanese and North American release dates are unaffected by the delay, with scheduled 2006 launches on 11 November and 17 November respectively. Sony's global shipment forecast of 6 million units for the fiscal year of 2007 also remains unaffected.

The European delay means that the PlayStation 3 launch will take place well over six years since that of its predecessor, which went on sale on 24 November 2000. Sony is making no additional comment on the PlayStation 3 delay at this point in time.