Sony Computer Entertainment America announced today during a morning conference call that it had a record 1997, selling 2.4 million hardware units in December alone. Compared to its closest competitor, the PlayStation sold at a ratio of 1.4:1 during December.

　　The system's momentum began at the beginning of the fourth quarter with 480,000 units sold in October, followed by 1.01 million in November, and the record number of units sold in December. All told, the PlayStation sold 3.8 million units in the fourth quarter alone, according to SCEA. That brings the total installed base of PlayStation hardware in North America to nearly 9 million units

　　As far as a price drop, none was announced for the PlayStation hardware. Kaz Hirai, CEO of SCEA commented during the call that, "We're very comfortable with the $149.99 price and currently do not have any plans to lower the price of the hardware."

　　Software for the PlayStation also did very well, selling more than 18.4 million units in the fourth quarter, bringing the total software sold in the US to 47.3 million units.

　　Sony trumped up software innovation as being able to compete with the next generation of gaming platforms such as Sega's Katana and Project X. SCEA said that it recently released new development tools to developers that will make PlayStation games look even better than they do now.