Week 2 EOC: Boston Consulting Group - Video Games

The video game industry is one that fluctuates greatly in terms of revenue and on which company is top dog. Speaking of dogs, that seems to be the case with Nintendo and it’s position as the third wheel while Sony and Microsoft square off for the past two generations of consoles to be the best. While the Nintendo 3DS is what is keeping Nintendo in the race, with 58.5 million units sold as of April 2016 (Takahashi, venturebeat.com) it’s home console, the Wii U, sold significantly less with only 12.8 million units. “The Wii U figures show why Nintendo is hurting in the worldwide $99.6 billion gaming market, which earnings down 60 percent as the Wii’s successor withers away.” http://venturebeat.com/2016/04/27/nintendo-by-the-numbers-58-5m-3ds-handhelds-and-12-8m-wii-u-consoles-sold-to-date/ Sony on the other hand has been the definitive leader over the other two competitors since its inception. Last year’s Black Friday was the turning point on the constant power struggle between Sony and Microsoft, with the PS4 beating the Xbox One’s sales by double. http://www.idigitaltimes.com/ps4-vs-xbox-one-black-friday-2015-playstation-sales-win-despite-microsofts-best-494403 “The Japanese electronics giant sold 17.7 million PS4 consoles in its year that ended March 31, up from 14.8 million sold in the previous year.” The last known estimate put the number of Xbox One consoles sold at around 19 to 20 million, based on comments made during Electronic Arts' earnings report.” http://www.ibtimes.com/ps4-vs-xbox-one-close-40-million-playstation-4-consoles-have-been-sold-2013-launch-2361021. It is also important to note that PC gaming is also in the numbers, with it actually being the number one selling digital gaming outlet when compared to consoles and mobile. “In 2015, the market as a whole saw $61 billion in revenue for digital games across all platforms. That number was up 8% from the year prior. Of that $61 billion, $32 billion was in PC gaming, $25 billion was in mobile gaming, and $4 billion was in consoles.” http://www.winbeta.org/news/pc-games-still-rule-consoles-mobile-2015-sales In all, according to the BCG-Matrix, I believe with the way Sony is going it is a star, while Microsoft and the Xbox One is a question mark, the Wii U is a dog, the Nintendo 3DS is a cash cow, and PC or online gaming is a definitive star.