According to analyst Daniel Ernst of Hudson Square Research in 2007 Sony sold 9 million PS3 units globally, Microsoft sold 9.5 million Xbox 360’s and Nintendo sold 18.5 million Wii’s. For fiscal year 2009 (ending next March), Mr. Ernst predicts that Microsoft will sell 11.2 million units of the Xbox 360 worldwide, Sony will sell 12.5 million PS3s and Nintendo will sell 23 million Wii’s. That’s right, as many Wii’s as Xbox 360’s and PS3’s combined!
Why? To quote: “Microsoft got the jump on the industry with a one-year headstart, but nine months after its the launch, the Nintendo Wii overtook the Xbox 360 on a global basis. While the PS3, has struggled out of the gate, we note that since last fall, the console has been outselling the Xbox 360 in Europe, and in the first two months of this year has even outsold the Xbox 360 on its home turf, in the U.S. (In Japan, overtaking the Xbox 360 was almost immediate). With its strong slate of software scheduled for the coming year, we expect a material acceleration for the PS3 this year, but we believe the Wii will sell more than the PS3 and Xbox 360 combined this year.
With 69.8 million Nintendo DSs [69% of the portable market] and 38 million Sony PSPs on the market vs. 24.3 million Wii’s; 20.6 million Xbox 360’s; and 12.6 million PS3’s, the addressable market for Portable Game systems is significantly greater than for Consoles. However, because the price points of portable systems are significantly lower than for consoles, total portable revenues account for just 28% of industry sales – masking the segment’s greater contribution to earnings.
Given that the development costs for a DS game can come in at less than $1 million (vs. $15 million to $30 million for a next-gen console game), we believe the opportunity for profits in the portable market is significantly greater than the absolute size of the market suggests.” — Read more analysis at Gamedaily.