Game Consoles and Handhelds Converge

The 8th Generation of game consoles is coming at a critical juncture in the gaming hardware market – the current platforms have sustained the market for a longer period than historical precedence would suggest  and mobile devices continue to garner more attention from gamers (casual in particular). On the portable side the 8^th generation of dedicated handheld consoles have already launched and due to pricing sensitivities results to date have been somewhat mixed. It is, however, too early to say recent console shipment declines are purely attributable to a shift in consumer behavior as there are other mitigating factors – maturity of the market for one. While the next generation of consoles should help rejuvenate the market, a new crop of entrants might inspire more innovation than the incumbents alone.

2013 will see a number of new platforms launch and some could see good traction from consumers. Establishing a new gaming platform has historically been very challenging, with many failed attempts to illustrate these difficulties. This new breed of entrants, however, will leverage existing (and established) platforms such as Windows and Android and perhaps more importantly bridge the divide between fixed and portable/mobile gaming. Gaming will remain a critical form of entertainment for many consumers and those platforms that best adapt to the changing environment stand to benefit from these transitions. 

In this report we explore some of these new platforms and discuss how the market might evolve. In addition we provide forecasts by region (North America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East Africa) for console shipments/revenue and household penetration rates.