Sony to Stay on Top Till 2010

Could Sony become the first company to have a stranglehold on the industry for three generations? All signs point to yes, says one analyst.

It's coming up on 12 years since Sony kicked off its PlayStation project in 1994, after being snubbed by Nintendo, and the years have been good. There's never been a company that has commanded the games world for more than two generations but a new study says Sony will be on top for a while still.

Sony's new PlayStation 3, set for global launch in November, will hold a commanding share of the video game pie until the end of the decade says a new research report by US analyst firm In-Stat.

Sony's crown position will come under attack by Microsoft and Nintendo, but In-Stat predicts both will fall far short of posing a real challenge:

"Through 2010, the Sony PS3 will account for just over 50 per cent of the installed base of next-generation consoles, while the Microsoft Xbox 360 will have 28.6 per cent, and the Nintendo Revolution will have 21.2 per cent."

With Sony assured of victory, according to the authors of the report, the real battle will be for second place, between Microsoft and Nintendo.

"Microsoft will outship Nintendo in the next generation of consoles due to its head start in launching, its strength in the North American market, and its appeal to older gamers, a demographic that seems to widen with each new generation of consoles," says In-Stat's Brian O'Rourke.

The firm also predicts that console shipments in the next-generation will peak in 2008 at around 42 million consoles. The good news is that, overall, Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft will be pushing out more consoles in the next generation than they did in the one just finishing.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games