Market research firm Strategy Analytics has recently published a report indicating that Sony’s PlayStation 3 has overtaken Microsoft’s Xbox 360 in terms of globally active devices. In the new report, “Global TV Games Console Forecast: Will New Sensor Technology Revive the Demand?” the firm documents that the active installed based of PS3s at the end of 2010 clocked in at 43.4 million. Xbox 360’s numbers totaled 42.9, while Nintendo remained king of the console hill with 75.5 million active devices.
Obviously, based on the title of the report, there’s a heavy focus on motion controlled UI, which all three platforms now support. Sony’s Move controller is easily compared to the Wii’s groundbreaking technology, while Microsoft has gone their own route with the Kinect.
“While the Kinect peripheral has given a boost to Microsoft’s Xbox 360 strategy, the console’s performance outside of the US continues to disappoint,” says report author, Jia Wu, Senior Analyst in Strategy Analytics’ Digital Consumer Practice. “Global demand for Sony’s PS3 has exceeded that of the Xbox 360 in each of the past two years, and we expect that to continue over the coming years.”
The report also includes predictions for the remainder of 2011, with Xbox excpected to fall short of Sony’s numbers. Strategy Analytics points to a healthy 15.7 million PlayStations moving out the door, while Microsoft with move 13.7 million Xbox units. The group is also forecasting Nintendo’s continued decline, with just over 10 million units expected to find new lodgings with consumers. Along with other industry analysts, Strategy Analytics is predicting that Nintendo will launch a successor to the Wii by Q2 2012.
“Microsoft’s second generation console has dramatically improved the company’s position in the digital home,” notes David Mercer, Principal Analyst at Strategy Analytics in a statement. “But its relative weakness in Europe and Asia acts as a drag on its global performance. Microsoft should continue to innovate around its motion sensor technology, which will become increasingly relevant in the smart home era.”
Authored by Senior Analyst Jia Wu, the Global TV Games Console Forecast: Will New Sensor Technology Revive Demand is available directly from Strategy Analytics.
The report predicts both physical game software (console, handheld, and PC) growth, and digital download activity, IGA, sales of virtual goods, and subscription services. The online games revenues sector is expected to have a compound annual growth rate of 18.7 percent, reaching $24.8 billion by 2013, accounting from more than 38 percent of total video game software recenues.
