After promising 400k, they deliver on roughly half, what did they say?

Yesterday's NPD figures illuminated what we'd all suspected -- Sony's PlayStation 3 shipments for the month of November took the term "shortage" and redefined it. The tight shortages that suffocated the Xbox 360 last year seem overblown compared to the 197k units that Sony sold in November (Microsoft sold 326k units in November of last year), according to the reports. Nonetheless, in a statement to 1UP, Sony remains ever upbeat and confident.

Sony Computer Entertainment America is very pleased with the NPD data for November, showing outstanding sales for all of its platforms. These figures clearly demonstrate the strength of the PlayStation family of products in the US market. PLAYSTATION 3 remains one of the most sought after items this holiday season, selling through almost immediately in all retailers once placed on store shelves. We will continue to utilize airfreight delivery for the PLAYSTATION 3 to assure a steady stream of systems for North American consumers through the end of the year. And while initial day-one launch shipment goals weren't achievable due to early manufacturing issues, those problems have been resolved and we do remain focused on having one million PS3's in the pipeline by December 31, 2006.

The six-year old PlayStation 2 continues to dominate the market, outselling all other consoles in November, including much newer systems from the competition. The PS2 also topped the software category, out pacing all other console's sales by almost three times. The PSP (PlayStation Portable Player) had a very good November as well, seeing a jump in sales of nearly 50% and a strong increase in software sell-through. These sales figures bode very well for SCEA as it offers a computer entertainment system for every taste and budget this holiday season.

Sony continues to focus on the success of the six-year old PlayStation 2 in their statements as well as the success of the brand -- which considering the shortages that the PS3 will face for the coming months is all they can celebrate until enough PS3s infiltrate the retail channel. This conversation sound familiar? It's similar to the talks we had about Microsoft during their shortage last year, except they didn't have a family of products or a 100M user install base to rely on. It's not over just yet, folks. Not by a long shot.

via 1up