As part of its financial statement for the first 21 weeks of the year, in which total group sales declined 9.1%, GAME said that the "installed base of third generation hardware continues to grow, albeit at a slower rate than last year." That said, ownership of the latest generation hardware increased by 54% in the U.K. during the 12 months to June 2009.
According to GfK ChartTrack data cited by GAME, the total console installed base in the U.K., including PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, DS/DSi and PSP (excluding PS2), is now up to 24.2 million units.
Not too surprisingly, Nintendo leads the way. The Wii has a U.K. installed base of 5.4 million, followed by the Xbox 360 at 3.9 million and PS3 at 2.2 million. On the portable console side, the Nintendo DS has 9.1 million (and DSi is at 300K), while Sony's PSP stands at 3.3 million. It's worth noting that since the beginning of the year, the Xbox 360 has seen the most growth, selling 600K units.
If you're wondering how the U.K. market stacks up with the U.S., the installed base in America (through May) stands at 89 million units. The Wii has sold 20 million, Xbox 360 has sold 15 million, and PS3 has sold 8 million -- handhelds account for 46 million.
