Analyst expects hard drive-equipped PSP

Sony's next generation PSP may integrate a tiny hard drive to store music and videos, a pair of Wall Street analysts said this week. In a research note obtained by PSPworld, Piper Jaffray analysts Anthony Gikas and Stephanie Wissink said that Sony may launch the new PSP as soon as mid-2006.

The analysts also forecast PSP sales in the coming years. They predict that Sony will sell 3.8 million units in 2005, 5.5 million in 2006, 5.0 million in 2007, and 6.0 million in 2008. "We estimate that total hardware unit sales (all platforms) will grow near 30% during the next six year cycle -- 2006 to 2011. We project that console hardware unit sales will increase near 10% and hand-held unit sales will increase near 45% during the next cycle."