Following a relatively lacklustre E3 showing in LA last week, Sony has now claimed that it expects the PlayStation 3 to sell over a hundred and fifty million units, more than its successful older brother the PlayStation 2.

Kaz Hirai, chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment told the Financial Times that, "it's not fun for me replicating the PS2 numbers. I've seen that movie already… I want to try to see if we can exceed the PS2 numbers after nine years, otherwise why are we in this business?"

Peter Moore's take

PS3 sales to date currently around 10 per cent of Hirai's target, so Sony certainly has a long way to go to hit that 150 million.

Peter Moore, former head of Microsoft's Xbox division, now heading up Electronic Arts' Sports label a year ago, told the FT:

"It looks to me as if the Wii is going to have at least half the installed base of the overall industry and the Xbox 360 and PS3 are going to fight over the balance, based on the run-rates we're seeing."

While respected industry analysts Michael Pachter added a dash of common sense, noting that: "It's highly likely that when the PS3 gets below $200, it will sell as well as the PS2."