Sony says PlayStation 3 sales better than expected

NEW YORK Oct 1 (Reuters) - Sony Corp's (6758.T) PlayStation 3 video game console and its portable cousin, the PSP, are selling faster than expected and are poised to meet full-year sales targets even if the current economic crisis hurts holiday demand, Sony said on Wednesday.

Driven by solid demand by video games, and the appeal of the Blu-ray disc movie system built into the devices, PlayStation 3 sales are some 30 percent better than Sony's plan so far in its fiscal year, according to Jack Tretton, Chief Executive of Sony Computer Entertainment of America.

As a result, he anticipates sales of the PS3 to reach a previously announced target of 10 million units by the end of the year, in March 2009.

"We are in good shape for that number worldwide," he said in an interview. "We are tracking at 100 percent up over last year ... about 30 percent ahead of where we should be. So sales could slow down and we will still hit our number." (Reporting by Franklin Paul; Editing by Gary Hill)