Sony's PlayStation 4 Expected To Hit Japan, Asia Pacific In December (SNE)

Sony SNE announced this week that its upcoming game console, PlayStation 4, will be released in North America on November 15. The device will arrive in Europe two weeks later on November 29. Sony did not say when it will release the new machine in Japan (where the company is headquartered), nor did it reveal the schedule for Asia Pacific. According to DigiTimes, PlayStation 4 should arrive in both territories in late December. This might be a bit later than some anticipated, especially when North American consumers can begin buying the console in less than three months. But this is another sign of how the industry has evolved over the last 20 years. While Japanese-made consoles were once released in Japan first, Sony has recognized the importance of the global market. More than one million people have pre-ordered PlayStation 4 worldwide. While both Sony's console and Microsoft's MSFT Xbox One have surpassed the pre-sales of PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, PlayStation 4 is reportedly dominating the market at most retailers. Xbox One does seem to be the more popular console on Amazon.com AMZN, however. Related: Microsoft's Xbox One Offers 'More Exciting Exclusive Games' Than Sony's PlayStation 4 Even before the pre-sale data was released, the upstream supply chain warned that PlayStation 4 units could be scarce. Sony has not made any promises regarding how many units will be shipped at launch, but GameStop GME has taken pre-orders at several intervals this summer. There were rumors that the retailer was told to take unlimited pre-orders, but GameStop.com is currently sold out. GameStop.com is taking pre-orders for Xbox One, but only for those who are willing to buy a one-game bundle. Both consoles are still available from BestBuy.com BBY. The electronics retailer plans to hold midnight launches across the country for those who pre-order in store. Disclosure: At the time of this writing, Louis Bedigian had no position in the equities mentioned in this report. Louis Bedigian is the Senior Tech Analyst and Features Writer of Benzinga. You can reach him at 248-636-1322 or louis(at)benzingapro(dot)com. Follow him @LouisBedigianBZ