At mediabistro.com’s eBook Summit last week, Sony digital reading business division president Steve Haber (pictured) said that the company’s new Sony Reader Daily Edition e-reader would ship by Christmas–and he was right.

Many in the audience were skeptical of his claim–including the moderator, PC Mag editor-in-chief Lance Ulanoff. Ulanoff tweeted: “Sony eBook prez told me the wireless Reader will ship in time for the holiday–in 2009! I’m taking a wait-and-see attitude.” Nevertheless, the company beat expectations and shipped the initial units today.

Here’s more from Engadget: “[Sony] managed to get the first ones out the door on the early end of its December 18th to January 8th estimate, with the initial batch of pre-orders shipping today. Unfortunately, anyone that didn’t pre-order the e-reader is out of luck for the time being, as it’s now back-ordered with a new estimated ship date of January 15th.”