Sony’s latest handheld, the PlayStation Vita, went on sale in Japan over the Christmas break, but Sony Computer Entertainment Europe boss Jim Ryan is warning against making predictions about its global success based on somewhat slow early results.

"One of the things we have learnt over a long period of time is that whether it is a PS1, PS2, PSP or PS3, it is dangerous to the point of impossible to take any experience from the Japanese market and try and extrapolate it, and propose upon what will happen in Europe or North America,” Ryan told MCV.

"Notwithstanding the fact that it is just way too early to make any conclusions, the markets are now just so different, I actually think they are diverging to a greater extent than they were different in the past – if that’s even possible.”

According to figures from Media Create (reported by Gamespot), 325,000 units sold in the device’s first week on sale, followed by 72,500 in the second and 43,000 in the third.

Both Ryan and Sony director of hardware marketing John Koller have been quoted as dismissing the early results, saying they are more interested in buyer responses, which will drive further uptake.

"That satisfaction rate is really high,” Koller says.

"In terms of when we funnel in additional hardware units, that’ll dictate how many sales there are and how many sell through.”

The company says they have learned from their mistakes regarding handheld devices, diversifying the launch titles for the PS Vita after the PSP launch line-up was too similar to that of the PS2.

The Vita will have a massive 33 titles available from the very first day it is launched, reaching its first Western audience in the UK on February 22. It's due out here the day after.