In a report on Associated Press, it’s been revealed that Sony’s next handheld, the PS Vita, won’t see a release in Western territories in 2011 but will rather launch in 2012.

Japanese consumers, however, will be able to purchase the handheld this year as Sony plans to launch the PS Vita in December in the country.

The news arrives on the back of comments made by Sony Corp. Executive Vice President Kazuo Hirai earlier today, revealing that the PS Vita will launch in the US and Europe in early 2012, and by the end of the year in Japan.

You’ll remember that the PS Vita has never been given a firm release window one way or another, with terms such as ‘Holiday’ and ‘during the fiscal year’ used to describe the console’s launch period. As a result, Hirai does not see this new release window as a delay for any region, as Sony continues with its “phased global rollout” of the PS Vita.

Hirai did mention, however, that Sony intends to ensure that the PS Vita is accompanied by a strong line-up of games on release – a wise move considering the recent release of Nintendo’s 3DS and that console’s comparatively lacking software library at launch.

Staying on the 3DS, Hirai denied that talk of a price cut for the PS Vita from it’s currently announced price of $249 (for the Wifi-only version) and $299 (for the 3G version), despite Nintendo’s recent move to slash the price of the 3DS, which will go on sale for $169.99 starting August 12th.

Speaking to reporters at Sony’s Tokyo headquarters, Hirai said of the PS Vita:

“We packed so much into the device and made it very affordable. There is no need to lower the price just because somebody else that happens to be in the video game business decided that they were going to lower their price.”

Did you have your heart set on a 2011 release for the PS Vita, or does this simply give you more time to enjoy the deluge of other games for other systems releasing by the end of this year?

El33tonline is going to gamescom 2011 in Germany this month, where we’ll surely find out a whole lot more about Sony’s future plans for the PS Vita in Europe and the rest of the world. Look forward to that news and our hands-on impressions of the handheld, too!

Source: AP