Sony, the consumer-electronics giant, today denied reports that it is planning to delay the release of its PlayStation 3 (PS3) games console.

The Japanese electronics manufacturer insisted that the console would be ready for spring 2006, but the company refused to give a specific launch date.

The denial was not enough to stop shares in Sony plunging almost 4 per cent on the Tokyo stock exchange, with investors worried that any delay could cost the company millions of dollars.

Sony’s denial was in response to a report from analysts at Merrill Lynch that said the PS3 might not be ready until the autumn in Japan and early 2007 in America. It is six years since Sony launched its highly successful PS2 on the global market, and gamers have been expecting the latest generation console since before Christmas 2004.

Masami Nakamura, a spokesman for Sony Computer Entertainment, admitted that the company was waiting for the final specifications for some of the DVD technology within the PS3, but said its original timeframe had not yet changed.

The launch of the successor to the PS2 was planned for mid-2005 but the complexity of the machine has delayed its development. Sony says the PS3 will be 35 times faster than its predecessor, and will provide more realistic graphics for more compulsive gameplay.

Analysts said any further delay could undermine Sony’s position as it faces intensifying competition from Microsoft’s Xbox 360 game console, which hit the market last year.

Sony has sold more than 100 million PS2s worldwide since its launch in 2000. Despite the success of the PS2, Sony has been struggling to turn around its business under the leadership of Howard Stringer, the first foreigner to head the Tokyo-based company. The PS3 is one of the major businesses that Sony is focusing on in its revival effort.

Last week, a senior executive said the exact date for the sale was still undecided.

"We want to be completely prepared when we bring PS3 to the marketplace," Tetsuhiko Yasuda, the managing director of Sony Computer Entertainment Asia, told reporters at the Taipei Game Show.

"Our number one competition is not other companies but counterfeiters. We want to work with governments to stop this," Mr Yasuda said without elaborating.

Shares in Sony closed 3.6 per cent lower at 5,300 yen.

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