PlayStation 4 to outsell Xbox One by 30% through 2016 – analyst

Sony managed to design a pretty powerful console in the PlayStation 4. High performance and a friendly approach to game developers are expected to result in higher sales of the system compared to its competitors – and it's already resulted in that. But by how much? According to an analyst with Wedbush Morgan, the PS4 will manage to outsell its arch-rival, Microsoft Xbox One, by a whopping 30% by late 2016.

Pachter, a well-known analyst of the video games market, predicts that cumulative worldwide sales of Sony PlayStation 4 will be 37.7 million units by the end of 2016. In contrast, he believes that Microsoft will sell a comparably weaker 29 million Xbox One units by the same time. Nintendo Wii U sales will total around 20 million units through 2016, according to Mr. Pachter, reports Games Industry.

The analyst projects that platform holders will cut the prices of their consoles in the next three years. For example, Wii U pricing may drop to $150 by the end of 2016, whereas the PlayStation 4 will cost $299 in the next few years. In a bid to sell more hardware, Microsoft is expected to cut the price of Xbox One to $349 by late 2016. However, the situation may change compared to what is currently modelled and the prices could drop more significantly and/or faster, especially if there's hardware revisions.

“We think ‘winning' is important to both companies [Sony and Microsoft] and it is possible that Microsoft will reduce Xbox One pricing far faster than we have forecasted. Should hardware prices come down faster than we have modeled, it is likely that hardware and software sales will grow faster,” said Mr Pachter.

Nowadays game consoles not only compete against each other and personal computers, but also rival various mobile devices, such as tablets and smartphones. In case the competition becomes more intense, then Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo will have to act by dropping prices or considerably improving the quality of games for their platforms. It is interesting to note that the majority of Nintendo Wii U owners play casual games which are also available on mobile gadgets. As a result, Nintendo is more vulnerable to competition from smartphones and tablets. At the same time, the company’s clients are not looking for advanced graphics, which somehow limits Nintendo’s ability to compete.

KitGuru Says: while we can safely say that the new generation of game consoles will be sold in large quantities, the bigger question is whether they manage to outsell previous-generation systems amid growing competition and the emergence of various new technologies like Steambox and game streaming.

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