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Sony’s PS4 is to outsell Microsoft’s Xbox One this Christmas, with approximately 33 million consoles sold in total, IDC has predicted.
The research company stated that the number of shipped consoles would be the first year-on-year increase since 2009, with online-connected gamers set to exceed 165 million by 2017.
“The opportunity to sell these gamers digital assets through Wii U, Xbox One, and PS4 online storefronts will grow substantially in the next several years,” commented Lewis Ward, Research Manager, of Gaming at IDC.
“The Chinese government’s recent decision to lift the ban on consoles should lead to millions of additional hardware bundle sales for the likes of Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony within three years,” he added.
IDC said that the PS4’s success would be due to a “number of factors, most notably the PS4’s lower price point”.
On Valve’s recent announcement of Steam OS, Steam Machines and Steam Controller, Ward said that “it appears unlikely that Nintendo, Microsoft, or Sony will be driven out of the living room from a gaming perspective by 2017 as result of non-console competition from the likes of Valve/Steam, OUYA, cable/telecom companies, or related hardware and Web service providers".
