I feel like I was the only one bringing up the price hike in previous PSP threads. ^_^
Does this actually surprise anyone? With 200,000 units at launch, I'd expect $400 to be the least people pay for them. I'm betting importers will sell the systems for $450-$500 in December.
Remember:
-Dreamcast Japanese launch prices, November 1998: $1,000+
-Playstation 2 Japanese launch prices, March/April 2000: $600-$1,000
Keep in mind these were prices IMPORTERS were charging, not the actual price of course!
Prices did fall quickly though. I got a Japanese PS2 for about $500 at the end of April 2000 and bought an import DC in December 1998 for around $500 as well. I won't be paying those type of prices for the PSP, however.
Looking at more recent systems, the Japanese PStwo STILL goes for around $265 at some importers!