A reader takes a look at the sales figures behind the last decade of consoles and finds some surprising statistics about the current gen.
At the start of the current hardware generation, many commentators suggested that it would be the last generation of dedicated gaming devices. Its probably now worth reviewing how that turned out. (My numbers are from VGChartz, as at the end of November 2018, which will be near enough.)
The last generation had five devices: three home consoles (Wii, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360) and two portable consoles (DS and PSP). All sold respectably, in the 80-160 million range out of approximately half a billion devices, and declined fairly gracefully, aided by the usual price cutting, in later years.
Total last gen sales: 509 million
Home consoles: Nintendo 37% (Wii 102m); Sony 32% (PS3 87m); Microsoft 31% (360 86m)
Portable consoles: Nintendo 66% (DS 154m); Sony 34% (PSP 81m)
Total share: Nintendo 50% (256m); Sony 33% (168m); Microsoft 17% (86m)
Share by device type: Home console 54% (274m); Handheld 46% (235m)
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By contrast, almost all their successors have had a pretty rough ride. The total number of current generation consoles, handhelds, and hybrids, including mid-cycle upgrades (PS4 Pro, Xbox One X, and New 3DS) and replacements (Switch) finally reached *half* that of the last generation at the five-year mark (from the point all platforms were available, Wii U/handhelds launched earlier).
Only the PlayStation 4 has equalled its predecessor, everything else is down 50% (even Wii U + Switch is down 40% on the Wii) and there have been multiple complete failures of both platforms and technologies.
The Wii U failed (sales at less than 20m) and Nintendo effectively withdrew from the dedicated console market. The Wii U was discontinued in January 2017 and the Switch was launched in March 2017. The 3DS stalled, and required an early price cut to restore momentum. Switch also saw Nintendo abandon 3D, dual-screen, and AR.
Kinect 2 failed (sales were less than 20m), and Microsoft effectively withdrew from the gesture control market. Kinect 2 was discontinued in October 2017 and planned VR/MR support abandoned post-E3 2018.
The PS Vita also failed (sales were less than 20m), and Sony effectively withdrew from the handheld market, also abandoning rear touch control. First party Vita development was discontinued in October 2015 and the hardware will be discontinued in 2019.
Total current gen sales: 259m
Home consoles: Nintendo 9% (Wii U 14m); Sony 62% (PS4 88m); Microsoft 29% (XO 41m)
Hybrid consoles: Nintendo 100% (Switch 24m)
Portable consoless: Nintendo 82% (3DS 73m); Sony 18% (PSV 16m)
Total share: Nintendo 43% (111m); Sony 41% (104m); Microsoft 16% (41m)
Share by device type: Home console 56% (143m); Hybrid 9% (24m); Portable 35% (89m)
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On current information, it seems likely that there will be only three platforms in the next generation: PlayStation 5, Xbox Two, and Switch. Although all may be a family of devices with varying specifications and price points, and no dedicated handhelds. So the predictions were about half right. Whether consoles will in turn be usurped by streaming dongles and cloud computing is yet to be seen…
By reader Dave Lockwood
The readers feature does not necessary represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
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