Sales of consoles in the United States set a new record

New Year sale consoles broke a record in December gamers purchased a quarter more consoles than a year earlier. This breakthrough came with the release of new devices from Microsoft and Sony. While the two giants in the fight wins Japanese company with its Playstation 4.

Sales of consoles in the U.S. in December rose by 28% compared with the previous year and amounted to 1.37 billion dollars, according to the NPD Group. The last time more money on consoles gamers spent only in December 2010 (1.84 billion dollars). The rapid growth of the December sales provided output consoles Xbox One of Microsoft and Playstation 4 from Sony. "The new console from Microsoft and Sony started superbly. Xbox led sales in December, but after two months from the date of commencement of sales leader is Playstation 4 "- Bloomberg said NPD analyst Liam Callahan. On store shelves Playstation 4 Received 15 November and the end of December Sony managed to sell 4.3 million of its consoles, while Microsoft, whose console came out a week later - 3 million total for 2013 consoles were sold by 4 $ 26 billion

At the same time of the struggle between the producers of consoles, in fact, eliminated the Japanese Nintendo. For the fiscal year Nintendo expects losses of $ 240 million company failed to interest gamers their game console Wii U and was forced to cut its sales forecast - from 9 million to 2.8 million units over the same period. Nintendo also lowered expectations and popularity of the portable console 3DS - from 18 million to 13.5 million units. One of the main reasons for the failure - competition from smartphones and tablets. "In the video game market is increasingly moving smartphones and tablets. Nintendo needs to change its business model. This is a structural problem, "- said the chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Asset Management Mitsucige Aquino.

By 2017, analysts expect the share of video game consoles on the market will grow from 31 to 40%, and the segment - from 53.9 billion to 73.8 billion dollars in the same time, portable consoles such as Nintendo's 3DS and PSVita from Sony, will lose its popularity. Their share will fall from 22 to 13%. Nevertheless, in the future Sony and Microsoft will compete not only among themselves but also with tablets and smartphones. The success of this generation of consoles will determine what kind of platform for consumers choose games - consoles or tablets "- analyst Laurent Michaud IDATE.

It is expected that in the period from 2013 to 2017 mobile games sector will grow by an average of 11.4% per year. "In the tablet game easier and more affordable. Tablet, as well as the console becomes the center of home entertainment. In addition, it is also entertainment on the road. This has contributed to the explosive growth of tablet market games, "- said RBC daily head of digital content J'son & Partners Consulting Oleg Drones. However, the percentage of intersection of the audience that plays on tablets and on consoles, not so big that producers noticed competition, rather both types of devices complement each other, says Mr. Drones.