As sales of video games on the consoles and handheld systems start to level off, the industry is looking more and more to the mobile platforms for answers and business.
According to the market research firm iSuppli Corp., mobile phones equipped to play games vastly outnumber the amount of consoles and other dedicated gaming platforms. In 2010, a total of 1.27 billion gaming capable cell phones were shipped, an increase of 11.4% from 1.14 billion last year.
Though Nintendo recently announced that total sales of the Wii unit in the United States hit 30 million units, and the PS3 and Xbox 360 remain in tight competition for sales, the overall units shipped total just 52.3 million in 2010, compared to 52.1 million in 2009.
Handheld units actually saw a decline by 2.5% this year, with 38.9 million units produced this year, as opposed to 39.9 million units in 2009.
"The formidable lead enjoyed by cell phones capable of gaming will continue in the years to come with no hint of decline, and their near-universal presence gives them the potential to become a viable competitive threat to dedicated gaming platforms, primarily handheld devices," said Pamela Tufegdzic, consumer electronics analyst at iSuppli. "And although gamers who prefer a superior gaming experience will always opt for either a console or handheld, sales of both platforms tend to rise and fall based on the vagaries of product development, consumer buying patterns and economic trends."
The world of console sales is not doomed though, says the report. “Consoles are putting up a good fight,” iSuppli commented. Development cycles for the next generation are expected to show up by 2014, when the console market hits 59.9 million units. Consoles are also expanding their presence in the living room as manufacturers are working with various entertainment suites to bring music, games and other forms of entertainment to consoles.
Microsoft’s Kinect and Sony’s Move are also expected to bring new life into the current generation, with industry insiders saying that the new peripherals will help cushion the expected decline in current generation sales sometime in 2011.
2 Comments
August 11, 2010
I have lots of respect for iSuppli, but I don't understand how they can attempt to draw such a linear comparison between phones and consoles. Wireless communications are essentially a utility. Mobile phones are a commodity and spending on them is largely non-discretionary. The majority of adults on the planet (including those in some very poor countries) has a mobile phone—and the majority of them certainly didn't buy them to play games. Just as most people who buy PCs do not buy them to play games.
A more pertinent comparison would be of consumer spending on games for each platform—a like-for-like comparison of discretionary spending.
August 12, 2010
^ agree, most newer phones can play games and most people have a cell. I have an iphone but don't play games on it. New phones are coming out all the time which means more sales, A new console hasn't been released in a very long time so its pretty obvious that it doesn't sell as much.