"For us, the PSP is a very high growth, high margin business and something that is a very good product for us," said SCEA senior marketing manager, John Koller, speaking at today's 6th annual Wedbush Morgan Securities Management Access Conference in New York City. As conveyed by GamesIndustry.Biz, Koller's message was all about the fortunes of the PlayStation Portable, set loose in a world where handheld gaming has grown beyond its smaller screen size, both commercially and socially.

"In the past, it was a small screen experience. It was something that was very difficult to have from a social perspective," Koller explained. "Those things have changed." And with change comes, well, a lot more change. The kind that rattles in your pocket. Says Koller: "For us, the PSP is a very high growth, high margin business and something that is a very good product for us." He allegedly likened it to a "gateway drug," with first-time gamers (users?) eventually following their noses to Sony's PlayStation 3. The images there are like, so vivid, man.

Speaking to IGN about the PSP's three-year anniversary, Senior Marketing Manager for the system, John Koller, reconfirmed Sony's 10-year commitment to the platform. Said Koller: "We've talked about the PSP being a 10 year product, but a 10 year product in the continued lifecycle." Citing the different PSP models, Koller said the handheld "will still be a very strong portable gaming device that is centered in gaming and has a lot of multi-functional features."

Before you go scoffing at that time line, remember that the original PlayStation lasted for over a decade, with the ultra-successful PS2 still going strong after eight years. With the PS3 also given a "ten-year life cycle," we suspect that's just the modus operandi for Sony's hardware strategy.

[Via PSP Fanboy]