The Merrill Lynch report, which triggered a slide in Sony stock in Japan today, said the PS3 may be delayed in Japan until autumn and until late 2006 or early 2007 in the U.S.

Any delay would give Microsoft and Nintendo more time to win market share with their new consoles before the holiday shopping season.

Sony, which is adding its Blu-ray high-definition DVD format and the faster Cell chip to the PS3, is facing about $900 in costs to make the device, more than double the retail price of Microsoft's Xbox 360 game console, Merrill said.

Sony doesn't comment on the machine's price, Sakaguchi said.

Microsoft loses about $153 on each Xbox 360, which retails for between $299 and $399, researcher iSuppli said. The Xbox 360 went on sale in November.

Nintendo's Revolution console may sell for less than $300 and will go on sale before Thanksgiving, Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America's sales and marketing chief, said last month.

Sikorsky Aircraft

Contract rejected; strike looms today

Union workers at Sikorsky Aircraft overwhelmingly rejected a proposed new contract Sunday and planned to strike this morning, Teamsters Local 1150 and the company said. It would be the first walkout at the helicopter maker since 1963.

On its Web site Sunday, the union told workers to report to picket duty beginning at 6 a.m. EST at the company's Stratford, Conn., headquarters and locations in West Haven, Bridgeport and Shelton, Conn., and in West Palm Beach, Fla.

The vote was 2,045-1,072 against the contract and in favor of a strike. The union cited sharp increases in employee contributions to health coverage as a problem.

The local represents about 3,600 Sikorsky workers.

Singapore air show

Airline overcapacity a threat, official says

The head of the world's airline club warned today against the danger of industry overcapacity, ahead of an air show at which carriers are expected to add to the record aircraft orders they booked in 2005.

Airlines might need more capacity as markets such as India rapidly expanded, but the industry suffered in the past when it found itself with too many planes, said Giovanni Bisignani, director general of the International Air Transport Association. He spoke a day before the start of the Singapore air show.

Airlines buying new planes rarely scrap their old ones, which are usually sold to second-tier carriers or to investors who rent them out. Today's old planes are more serviceable than the old planes discarded in previous cycles.

Points North Group

Free on-demand TV with ads favored

By a greater than 3-to-1 ratio, consumers told researchers they would prefer free on-demand TV programs with commercials than to pay $1.99 for shows without advertising.

Survey results reported by Points North Group found 62 percent said they would choose free content with commercials, while 17 percent said they'd pay for programs with no advertising. One out of five respondents was undecided.

Hewlett-Packard

Handheld unit split from notebook PC

Hewlett-Packard created a separate unit for its handheld computers as part of Chief Executive Mark Hurd's plan to hold business groups accountable for profit and costs.

The iPAQ business was split from the notebook PC unit, said Todd Bradley, who runs Hewlett-Packard's PC division.

The PC group, the company's biggest sales engine, now has four units responsible for desktop PCs, notebook computers, handheld computers and workstations.

Compiled from Reuters, The Associated Press and Bloomberg News

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