Joystiq

Report: Global PS3 market share increasing

JC Fletcher — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:00:00 EST

You may have assumed this from the climbing PS3 sales Sony reported last week, but a report from Research and Markets provides further confirmation that the system is increasing in popularity around the world.

"The PS3 is dominant in Japan and Korea," the report notes, "and as of June 2008, has begun to outsell the Xbox 360 in Europe. It is also steadily increasing its market share in all other regions across the globe, including in the North American market." The Xbox 360 is still ahead of the PS3 in North America. It's worth noting that the increase in sales in Europe predates the price drop and introduction of the PS3 Slim.

Research and Markets also provided a bit more information about the distribution of console sales. Though North America remains the largest market for consoles, "The high population density and rapid uptake of technology in countries such as Japan and Korea, and to a lesser extent in Singapore and Hong Kong, see a disproportionately high level of console sales compared to the rest of the world," the report reads." Console sales are also fairly high in Western Europe and are growing considerably in the emerging markets of Eastern Europe, Latin America, and other areas in Asia."

Report: Global PS3 market share increasing originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Does Microsoft need Japan to succeed?

Kyle Orland — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 11:45:00 EST

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox, Microsoft Xbox 360, Business

It's been generally known for a while that Microsoft has had trouble selling game systems in Japan, first with the Xbox and now with even slower sales of the Xbox 360. Analyst Robert Ehrenberg harps on this fact in a repetitive analysis claiming that the Xbox brand in a "bomb" that is dragging down the company.

We don't buy it. While it's true that Japan still holds the spiritual center of the industry for many gamers, we don't necessarily agree with Ehrenberg's conclusion that "success in the Japanese market is a key determinant of success in the worldwide market." The Japanese market for home systems has actually been sizably smaller than the European and American markets for at least the past two generations. And while the best-selling systems in Japan tend to also do well elsewhere, success in Japan does not necessarily lead to success in the rest of the world -- see the tepid worldwide reaction to the hot-in-Japan Saturn and Dreamcast as evidence.

But Ehrenberg's logic really fails when he claims that a weak Japanese start means that key developers will be unwilling to support the system. Healthy 360 support from the likes of Capcom, Namco, Sega and Sakaguchi's MistWalker studio shows that Japanese companies are considering the 360's global footprint in their worldwide distribution plans. Maybe Japanese game buyers aren't important as long as Japanese companies and the rest of the world are on board.

Ehrenberg also asserts that Microsoft should dump the Xbox because it has so far failed to make them money. This neglects the long term value of the branding and cachet that Microsoft is slowly but surely building as a major part of the gaming universe. That kind of branding is invaluable. Just look at Star Wars -- three crappy prequels weren't enough to truly dilute the value of the hot property.

Does Microsoft need Japan to succeed? originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 20 Apr 2007 11:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

New Yorker: Wii doesn't have to win to be a winner

Christopher Grant — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 11:27:00 EST

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Business

We know, The New Yorker isn't the first name in video game writing, but staff writer James Surowiecki is a well respected business writer whose most recent column, titled "In Praise of Third Place," is valuable reading for every fanboy whose metric for success is a simple market share ratio.

Much of this stuff is old hat for anyone familiar with Nintendo's core strategy, or who have spent more than a few minutes in a flamewar with Nintendo loyalists, but Surowiecki's mainstream pitch is fascinating, full of references to business icons like GE's Jack Welch and Glengarry Glen Ross' Alec Baldwin character (what was his name again?). In short, the Wii ceded the video game arms race to big spenders like Microsoft and Sony and, lo and behold, it may be better off having done so! What would the big guy from downtown, from Mitch and Murray, say to that? It turns out third place isn't "you're fired!"

[Thanks, Andrew]

New Yorker: Wii doesn't have to win to be a winner originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 27 Nov 2006 11:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

WoW dominates MMO market share

Jennie Lees — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 08:58:00 EST

Filed under: PC, Online, MMO, Business

If you were in doubt about World of Warcraft's popularity amongst MMOs, the updated subscriber numbers over at MMOGChart will set you straight. The pie chart above shows the market share, as of May 2006, of subscription-based MMOs; the huge blue slice taking up 50.6% of the market is none other than Blizzard's behemoth.

While a number of smaller games have some slice of the pie, the MMO world is dominated by Lineage, World of Warcraft and Runescape -- the latter has been racking up subscribers recently.

Continue reading WoW dominates MMO market share

WoW dominates MMO market share originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 01 Jun 2006 08:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments