Though the 40GB PS3 ditches PS2 compatibility for the sake of streamlining and efficiency, apparently it is already earning its keep since its official debut.  Sony Corp. CEO Sir Howard Stringer claims the PS3 is now selling "twice as fast" as it was before in the U.S. and "three times as fast" in Europe.  Assuming this momentum can be maintained, Stringer believes Sony just might have a shot at hitting its global shipment target of 10 million PS3s before the end of its fiscal year.

Stringer also notes that the battle between next-gen optical disc formats Blu-ray and HD-DVD are now at a "stalemate".  Though he downplays Blu-ray's importance in the great scheme of Sony, seeing the battle between the two formats as really nothing more than a rivalry for prestige, Stringer does feel Blu-ray was initially enjoying a good head start through its own merits.  Paramount's earth-shattering decision to back HD-DVD exclusively for its releases, however, pretty much threw a spanner in their works.

Thus the battle between the two formats is set to rage on with no clear "winner" for quite some time.  It's all enough to make Stringer allow himself to get wistful for a moment in wishing that he was there in the not-so-distant-past to somehow unite the two opposing camps before their rivalry as formats started.