Research Firm Predicts Reduced Lead For PS3

Analysts at research firm In-Stat have become one of the first to react to the recently announced November worldwide release date for the PlayStation 3, predicting continued dominance for Sony, despite a smaller market lead. Through 2010, In-Stat predicts that that the PlayStation 3 will account for just over 50 percent of the installed user base of next generation console, with the Xbox 360 at 28.6 percent and the Nintendo Revolution at 21.2 percent. Although little is still known about the nature or price of the Revolution, In-Stat analyst Brian O’Rourke has justified the figures by commenting: “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.” The company’s new report, named “Video Game Consoles 2006: Microsoft Launches Next Generation, Sony Dominates Current Generation”, also predicts that, due to higher prices, the peak year for shipments of next generation consoles is expected to be in around the same post-launch timeframe as the peak year for current generation machines. Overall, though, the report still predicts a great number of hardware shipments in the next generation compared to the current generation.