Gaming Console Market And Forecast Q3 2012 – New Platforms Needed

Gaming Console Q3 2012 Highlights

• In the year to the end of September the overall market declined 10.6% to $42.2 billion
• 69.5 million consoles were sold in the year, worth $14.0 billion, down 27.1% in the year
• 45.1 million Internet enabled consoles were sold in the year, worth $10.7 billion – down 14.1% in the year from $19.3 billion
• Sony leads with a 35.6% share, up from 31.7% in the previous year
• Nintendo was in second position with a 34.8% share – down from 43.8
• Microsoft Xbox has a 29.6% share – up from 24.6%
• Software accounted for $28.1 billion –59.0% of the overall market

Microsoft previews Surface – plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose

Microsoft Surface Highlights

• Announces 2 Surface platforms – based on ARM and Intel chips
• Includes a keyboard, making this a ‘convertible’
• Will challenge Apple’s 94% share of the smart tablet market
• Will compete directly with its PC OEMs in client devices for the first time and will need to balance its activities carefully
• Signifies the most important move today away from the horizontal PC market

Gaming Console Market Share And Forecast – Shipments Crash In Q1 2012

This article is co-authored by Lizzie Hingley, who continues to add strong ideas from her experience of working in the gaming retail area. For an update for Q2 2012 please click here. Please also see our related summaries of business for this quarter of Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft xBox

Gaming Console Q1 2012 Highlights

• Unit console sales were 8.2 million – down 53% from 17.6 a year before
• Software sales were 3% up at $6.3 billion
• Nintendo and Sony tied as market shipment leader with 3.4 million each
• Sony led in revenues with $2.1 billion v $1.6 billion for xBox and $1.0 for Nintendo
• The current slump in shipments will result in a static installed base until 2014
• Profitability is weak for hardware players – unusual for the end of platform life cycles
• Internet handset consoles are picking up – will easily be the strongest growing sector

Microsoft xBox – The 2011 Console Revenue Champ

Microsoft reports that it now has 40 million users of xBox Live – up 33% from the previous year. Its Entertainment and Devices division grew its revenues by 9.8% during the year, allowing it to take the leading market share in the overall gaming console market. xBox unit sales increased in 2011 from 12.1 million to 18.0 million (see Table 3), although sales of Kinect were down on the previous year. We have estimated its software unit sales at 140 million – down from the previous year. Microsoft itself reports that video gaming revenues were down due to the strong sales of Halo Reach the previous year.

Gaming Console Market Share And Forecast – A Falling 2011

I’d like to thank Lizzie Hingley who has helped to co-author this piece, using her 6 year video and gaming retail experience to add insight.

Gaming Console 2011 Highlights

• The overall market fell 5% in 2011 to $40.7 billion
• Software sales were $24.7 billion – 61% of the total
• The Internet console market dropped by 13% to $10.7%, with both Sony and Microsoft overtaking Nintendo revenues
• Internet gaming console installed base reached 150 million in 2011 – we’ve reduced our forecast to 180 million in 2016
• Portable Internet consoles have yet to prove successful
• The Great Earthquake affected suppliers and Japanese purchasers
• Increasing competition from Smart Tablet apps, PC gaming and/or Apple
• Changes in Internet services follow Sony problems