A new study has been published by the leading global provider of market intelligence IDC which forecasts the demand for, and profit associated with, video game console hardware and software through 2015. The study, which is based on surveys, interviews and other market trends, claims that by 2015 the PlayStation 3 will be the dominant console.
Lewis Ward, research manager for Consumer Markets states:
Total console hardware and disc-based software revenues are on track to slide a few percent in 2011 compared to 2010. But prognostications that consoles have peaked as a product category are premature. I expect that the launch of the Wii U, a revamped interactive entertainment console from Microsoft in the 2014 timeframe, and the arrival of Sony’s ‘PS4’ circa 2015 – along with more than a few exclusive, innovative games – will help drive a new wave of console-centric spending in the next several years.
Additional information mentioned in the 59 page document includes:
- Direct global console hardware and disc-based software sale revenue will increase at a (CAGR) of 3.6 percent from 2010 to 2015, reaching $39.7 billion in 2015.
- Installed base of actively used game consoles won’t keep pace with the number of worldwide households.
- 257 million active consoles worldwide by 2015.
- PS3 will have the largest active installed base of any game console worldwide by 2015.
Sony recently cut the price of the PS3 in all major regions, making it a steal at just $249. If you couple that with Sony’s commitment to first party excellence, it makes it kind of hard to refute the International Data Corporation’s claims.
