Sony plans to unveil an updated PlayStation Portable handheld game device on Jan. 27, followed by a game-playing smartphone in February, according to two people with knowledge of the plans.
Sony, the world’s second-largest maker of portable game players, will also outline a strategy to use its networked entertainment services to share games, movies and music among handheld products, TVs and other devices, said one person, who declined to be identified because the plan isn’t public.
With the updated portable player and the Sony Ericsson touch-screen smartphone to be shown at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the Tokyo-based company aims to gain market share in markets dominated by Nintendo Co. and Apple Inc., according to one of the people, whose company makes mobile-phone software and was briefed on the plans.
Patrick Seybold, a Sony spokesman, declined to say whether the Jan. 27 briefing will include the announcement of a new portable product.
The company has had trouble gaining traction with the PSP, dubbed the “Walkman of the 21st Century” by former PlayStation head Ken Kutaragi. Introduced in late 2004, the PSP has failed to catch up to the popularity of Nintendo’s products, selling 18.5 million units in the U.S. to the Nintendo DS family’s 47.4 million, according to researcher NPD Group.