14 DAY TRIAL // Analysts estimate that the future to come leader of the console market will be Sony with its PS3, and that fewer consoles will be sold. More precisely, the analysts from Yankee Group, a U.S.-based research firm, stated that even if Microsoft has launched its console one year before Sony's PS3, the Blu-ray console will have eventually, in 2011, the biggest market share with a 4% lead, informs X-bit Labs.
But Microsoft's Zune, which hasn't been mentioned in the report, is rumored to emerge on the retail market just two days before Sony's PS3 and the player's gun seems to have lots of bullets, not only for the iPod, but also for Sony's upcoming gaming console. Moreover, the Yankee Group said that the price battle will be something to see, as Microsoft will soon start to cut the price for its Xbox, in order to destroy the $600 PS3.
"With a growing installed base of connected consoles, content owners are beginning to recognize the potential video game consoles offer as a distribution channel. Additionally, these platforms will serve as a strong medium for advertising, validating the growing market for in-game and around game advertising," added Michael Goodman, Yankee Group media and entertainment strategies senior analyst cited by X-bit Labs.
The Yankee Group said that the PS3 could be sold up until 2011 in no less than 30 million units, an amount equal to 44% third-generation console sales in the U.S. Microsoft, on the other hand, will have sold almost 27 million units by 2011 and Nintendo will have sold over 11 million units.