Sony Might Lose 20% of the Gaming Console Market Share

Although Sony recently estimated that it will sell over 14 million consoles in 2006, not being afraid of Microsoft's Xbox 360, analysts think that the company might lose a big part of its market share because of the late launch of PlayStation 3. Also, it is said that game development for PS3 is more expensive than for Xbox 360.

Reports say that Sony controls 70% of the gaming console market while Microsoft and Nintendo share 15% each. It is believed that Sony will lose more than 20% of market share in the following years. Much of its share is to be token by the Xbox 360, reports saying that each console will sell over 23 million units each in 2007.

The speculations are also based on the fact that Sony's PS3 won't come at a cheap price, most likely more than US$400. Therefore, this may be a chain reaction: if there won't be enough consoles sold, fewer game developers will create games for the machine, and with not enough games, buyers will avoid the expensive PS3.

Sony's officials trust in PS3, saying that it will do very well on the market, and that, although game development will cost more, the company will have a full lineup of games at the end of 2006 or beginning of 2007.