Japanese Analyst group Nomura Securities has issued a report that estimates Sony only reaching 75% of their fiscal year sales target for PS3s, citing low holiday sales in North America as the primary factor in the figure. According to the NPD figures the PS3 only sold 490,700 units in December for a total of 687,300 since launch. That means that of the reported 1million systems shipped to North America, only 69% sold, a figure I am sure factored into the 75% above.

The Nomura Securities report also lowered their projected sales for 2008 and 2009 by nearly 40%, with 2009's estimate dropping from 18 million to 11 million systems.

Of course this is all just analysis, but coupled with the actual sales figures it paints a pretty grim picture for the PlayStation 3. at the very least the research firms are beginning to lose faith in the product, and once the analysts lose faith you're in for an endless parade of troubling reports, just like this one. Michael Fahey

Analyst: Sony Missing Sales Goal By 25%? [Gamasutra]

Contact information for this author is not available.