Sony has been facing down choppy economic waters for the past couple of years, but it was full steam ahead during the Japanese electronics company's fiscal third quarter. During the July-September period, company profits reached ¥31.1 billion ($372 million), due in large part to the increasing strength of the PlayStation 3, which sold 3.5 million units worldwide. The company also reaffirmed its projection of selling 15 million PS3s by the end of March 31, 2011, at that time.

　　PS3 sales remain on target. Since then, Sony experienced a lackluster November, an important sales period in which only 530,000 PS3s were sold--a far cry from the Xbox 360's 1.37 million unit tally. Still, that performance hasn't impacted the company's PS3 sales goals. As part of a press conference in Japan today, Reuters reports that Sony has reaffirmed its 15 million sales estimates for the PS3 through the end of its in-progress fiscal year.

　　"Sales at the end of the year are as we expected," said Sony Computer Entertainment head Kazuo Hirai.

　　Should Sony hit its sales estimates for its 2010 fiscal year, it would represent strong growth for the PS3 this year. During its previous fiscal year, Sony sold 13 million units worldwide, a figure that was itself up from 2008's 10.1 million unit sales tally. Through September, the PS3 has sold 41.6 million units since launching in November 2006.