Sony has been hit by another delay to its long-awaited PlayStation 3 console, which will now be released in Europe in March 2007 - four months later than planned.

The setback, caused by problems in mass manufacturing the PS3's next generation Blu-ray DVD component, means the games machine will miss the crucial Christmas period in Europe, Russia, the Middle East and Australia.

The PS3 project has already been delayed once this year, allowing Microsoft’s rival Xbox 360 to steal a march in the $30 billion console market.

The console will be released in the United States and Japan in November as planned - though manufacturing problems mean there will be half as many machines available on launch dates than previously thought.

British gamers eager to get their hands on a PS3 could, in theory, buy one through the so-called "grey market" by travelling to the US. However, games and DVDs for the system will be "region encoded" - which means that US machines wil not play titles released in the UK. Imported machines will also not be covered by warrantees.

"I am very sorry. I think there are many people who are looking forward to PS3, so I really regret the delay," Ken Kutaragi, chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment, said.

Apart from a series of delays, the Sony console has also been criticised for being more expensive than rival systems from Nintendo and Microsoft - the high-end version of the PS3 is expected to retail for around £425 in the UK - it is possible to buy a basic Xbox for half that.

Sony's Blu-ray format will also be pitted by a rival system, HD DVD, which has been developed by Toshiba, in a re-run of the video-cassette wars of the late 1970's. Sony's Betamax product lost to rival VHS in that showdown.

The latest blow comes just weeks after Sony said it would contribute hundreds of millions of dollars in recall costs after nearly 6 million computer batteries made by the Japanese electronics giant were recalled by Dell and Apple on safety fears.

Sony said in a brief statement today that the manufacturing problems had occurred within the group, "thus affecting the timely procurement of key components".

Last month the company revealed that it had not started production of the long-awaited console, leading industry analysts to question whether Sony would be able to keep to its timetables.

In April, Sony posted a 68 per cent rise in full-year operating profits to ¥191.2 billion (£935m) but hopes that the Japanese electronics-to-media group could finally be staging a concerted recovery were overshadowed by concerns over larger than expected costs for the launch of the PS3.

At that time it said it expected its games division to rack up an operating loss of ¥100 billion (£456,000) this financial year amid spiralling PS3 costs. That hit is expected to cut operating profits in half - to ¥100 billion - from last year.

But Sony also stands to lose in terms of reputation with European bloggers expressing anger at today's setback.

"So not content with overpricing the system, delaying for a year and ensuring it's underpowered compared to its direct competitors [Sony is] now going to ensure the traditional Christmas market is utterly overlooked in Europe," said Kuriyama's Hovel on MySpace.com.

"Of course by this time next year they'll be decrying pirates as the reason they've failed to establish a substatial [sic] foothold in the next-gen market in Europe ... After the genius of releasing the Playstation originally, they really have done their best to run themselves into the ground,"

Techsmessage.com said: "Sony Europe said when they first announced the simultaneous world wide launch 'This is an exciting first for Europe, and is a huge endorsement and vote of confidence in the strength of the European market and its importance globally', so with them now going back on this promise we can assume that they assume Europe to be 3rd rate, behind Japan & USA, if you want my advise get a Wii."

Blogger Chris Doidge said: "Sony have got a lot to lose from having the PS3 delayed: not just poor figures for 2006, but also a loss in market share as parents buy their kids XBoxes [sic] for Christmas.

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