Two Player Game
September 6 2006
Nintendo and Sony are left as the only two global players in the handheld games market, according to analysis from technology specialist In-Stat. In the past year the Nokia N-Gage, Tapwave Zodiac, and Gizmondo have all been taken off the market. In-Stat expects Nintendo's DS to retake top spot from the Sony PSP.
Among In-Stat's recent findings:
- While the convergence-oriented PSP outshipped the more traditional console-only DS in 2005, the DS has turned the tables in 2006, spurred by very strong sales in Japan. Sony will likely respond with a price cut in all major regions by the fourth quarter of 2006.
- Sales of the Nintendo GameBoy, Nintendo's cornerstone franchise since its 1988 launch, have slowed considerably since the launch of the DS. The last GameBoys will ship in 2007.
'Nintendo followed up successful Japanese and North American launches of its DS product in late 2004 with a successful introduction in Europe in the first quarter of 2005', says Brian O'Rourke, In-Stat analyst. 'The DS's two screens have proven popular, and have opened up the handheld market to new types of game play, as well as new demographic groups.'
The report, 'Handheld Game Platforms 2006: And Then There Were Two' covers the global market and includes shipment and revenue forecasts for each platform by region, through 2010; plus relevant results from the firm's 2006 US Residential Technology Survey and a separate web-based survey on handheld console ownership and purchase plans.
In-Stat, online at
www.in-stat.com , is part of the Reed Business Information division, itself part of the Reed Elsevier global information network.
All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.
