Japan Stocks Fall, Led by Sony on Game Delay Report; Banks Drop

[shugah]

Japan Stocks Fall, Led by Sony on Game Delay Report; Banks Drop

Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese stocks dropped, sending the Topix index to a 10-week low. Sony Corp. slumped after Merrill Lynch & Co. said the debut of its PlayStation 3 video-game console may be delayed until early next year in the U.S.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., the world's largest bank by assets created in a merger in October, led a slide among lenders after saying it will push back a plan to fully integrate the computer systems of the merger partners.

``For Sony, to not have its Playstation 3 console in time for the U.S. Christmas sales season will hurt,'' said Koji Uchida, who helps manage $47 billion at Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. in Tokyo. ``It's a weak market like this, it's easy to take negative news to sell, such as with the banks today.''

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Any delay would give rivals Microsoft Corp. and Nintendo Co. more time to win market share with their new consoles, especially if Sony's introduction is postponed after the holiday shopping holidays. Microsoft's Xbox 360 went on sale in November last year and the successor to Nintendo's GameCube is due this year.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000101&sid=aq8JOorKByJA&refer=japan