Having given Microsoft a year's head start in the current generation, PlayStation Europe boss Jim Ryan said it would be "undesirable" for PS4 to repeat that for the next-generation.
Speaking to Eurogamer TV this afternoon at a press event for PlayStation Vita in London, Ryan, who stepped up to the SCEE top job in the summer, said: "I think we would consider it undesirable to be significantly later than the competition [with the next PlayStation]."
With Wii U out next year and Microsoft expected to reveal the next Xbox in 2012 amid suggestions that a number of studios are already making games for a 2013 launch, industry chatter regarding a PlayStation 3 successor has been considerably more muted.
This, coupled with Sony's overall financial position, has led to speculation that the company is behind its rivals with its next-generation planning.
Ryan defended Sony's strategy, insisting: "There's still a lot of unfinished business on PS3."
He added: "If you look at PlayStation 2, now in excess of 150m units installed globally, a huge majority of that was done at price points of £120 or lower. [With PS3] we've only just hit £199 in the UK, so clearly there's a considerable untapped part of the market there."
Last week Edge reported that a first-party Sony studio had ceased PS3 development and moved onto PS4 development. The unnamed developer is also apparently involved in building the graphics technology for Sony's next system.
Source: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-11-23-sony-it-would-be-undesirable-for-ps4-to-launch-significantly-later-than-the-competition
I think the Vita will give them enough time to finish the PS4, so no need to hurry. But who knows.