Sony sells 70 million PlayStation 3 consoles over six rollercoaster years Sony said Friday it sold its 70 millionth PlayStation 3 console earlier this month, a major milestone forcompaq presario cq60-417dx sata bd-re blu-ray drive burner player the game console that failed to match the popularity of its predecessor but survived a rocky history to become a hit product for the companycompaq presario cq60-417dx sata bd-rom bd-combo blu-ray combo drive. The PlayStation 3 went on sale in November 2006. The console's smash-hit predecessor,compaq presario cq60-417dx sata cd/dvd-rw drive burner the PlayStation 2, shipped over 100 million units in the six years after its launch in March 2000. The PS 3 launched after six-month delay, and faced immediate competition from Nintendo's Wii,hp compaq 615 sata bd-re blu-ray drive burner playera far cheaper alternative that introduced the concept of motion controllers to the gaming masses. Sony's console features a custom central processor developed with IBM and Toshiba, the powerful Cell chip, that took years and millions of dollars to develophp compaq 615 sata bd-rom bd-combo blu-ray drive. Initial reviews of the console were cautiously optimistic, based on its potential morehp compaq 615 sata cd dvd±rw drive burner than the reality of the few games available at launch, but some were critical of how its introduction was handled. PCWorld rated the PS 3 one its "Top 21 Tech Screwups of 2006," criticizing its late launch and high price. Sony went through years of massive losses with the console, which it sold below cost initially, and issues around the PS 3 are hp touchsmart 620-1120jp sata slot bd-rom blu-ray bd-combo drivethought be a major reason why Ken Kutaragi, the company's former game chief, stepped down. The PS 3 was launched along with an online service, the PlayStation Network, that gained notoriety last year when it was hp touchsmart 620-1110 cto sata slot bd-rom blu-ray combo drivethe target of one of the largest hacks in corporate history. The device has also had software bugs that required updates from the companyhp touchsmart 620-1120a sata slot blu-ray combo bd-rom drive. But it has now become a mainstay of the game industry, a rare hit product for Sony that is highly profitablehp touchsmart 610-1280qd cto sata slot bd-rom blu-ray bd-combo drive. The previous two PlayStations were released six years after their predecessors, so it seems ripe for an update, but Sony game head Andrew House and other executives have repeatedly declined to provide specifics for when the next PlayStation will be released. He told IDG hp touchsmart 610-1250xt cto sata slot blu-ray combo bd-rom driveNews Service in an interview earlier this year that Sony is reaping the rewards for sticking with the PS 3 and is in no rush to sell a new machine. "It's definitely in the harvest period, now, of its life cycle," he said. Sony has released a new, slimmed-down version of the PS 3 for the current holiday season, which is half the volume and weight hp touchsmart 610-1230jp sata slot bd-rom blu-ray combo drive playerof the original. The update will compete with a completely new console from Nintendo, the Wii U. Sony said Friday the new PS 3 "has been well received by consumers around the world," without providing specifics. Sony admits it's failed to challenge the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy S3 yet, but promises a flagship follow-up to the Sony Xperia T that will rival the best of the smart phone best. "We will create in the near future a flagship Sony model that can compete with Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy S3," said one of Sony's mobile phone bosses. Speaking to the Financial Times in Germany, Sony exec Dennis van Schie also confirmed the company could begin making Windows Phones as well as Android phones, should Windows Phone 8 prove successful enough to bother with. "If it succeeds," says Sony, apparently referring to the work it's already done on developing a Windows Phone, "we won't be caught off-guard." Sony hasn't exactly taken the phone world by storm since ditching long-time partner Ericsson and striking out alone in the phone market. A new line of one-letter Xperia phones led by the Xperia S have been perfectly adequate Android blowers, but when its brief appearance in the latest Bond film Skyfall is the most exciting thing about the line-leading Xperia T, you know something needs to change. That promised new phone will appear in the new year at CES, the annual technology extravaganza in Las Vegas in the second week of January. We'll be there, so keep it CNET for all the latest! Sony is also planning new Android tablets, but acknowledges that "it has become very difficult to earn money with tablets" -- not since Google started selling them so cheaply. Sony is one of the few manufacturers to try something different for its Android slates, with the unusual Sony Tablet S and Tablet P, but sadly they didn't pay off. Judging by the quality of the Vaio Duo 11 hybrid tablet, Sony could have more success with Windows 8 devices.