Despite moving around 1,400 – 2,000 units per week in Japan, and new release games still doing well, Sony Computer Entertainment Japan has announced that the PlayStation Portable will be discontinued this month, after nearly 10 years on the market. As well, the Associated Press reports that PSP shipments stopped in January for North America, with PSP shipments in Europe ending later this year.
While it’s very possible PSP sales numbers have crossed 80 million worldwide since launch in December 2004, the last official report from Sony was that the handheld had moved 76.3 million units as of March 2012.
If you live in Japan, Sony is offering you the chance to trade in your PSP towards a PlayStation Vita.
Sony has yet to make any formal announcements about PSP discontinuation outside of Japan today, so if they have anything more to say about the rest of the world, we’ll let you know.
What do you think of the PSP being discontinued in Japan and Europe? Let us know in the comments below.