Research firm Strategy Analytics has taken a position that some in the gaming industry may find unexpected: saying that the Playstation 3 will outsell other consoles by the time their repective life cycles end.
The research company’s Connected Home Devices service published a report called “Taming the Waves: Games Console Life Cycles and Platform Competition” in which it suggests that the PS3 will still be a viable platform for as much as 5 years after the Wii dies.
Despite the fact that the Wii has captivated the world, brought in people who had never played video games before, and has eclipsed the sales charts for years, Strategy Analytics sees it as a fad.
“Nintendo has done a great job with the Wii in bringing console games to new audiences. But its sales are now falling, particularly in mature markets, and its installed base will peak in 2011. Ownership of both the PS3 and the Xbox 360 will hit their highest points between 2012 and 2014.”
During all of 2010, the firm expects global sales of the Wii to total 17.5 million units, followed respectively by the PS3 and Xbox 360 at 14 million and 10.5 million. In terms of lifetime sales, though, it predicts that the Wii will sell through 103 million units while the PS3 will hit 127 million units.
