Could PS Vita sales hit 12.4 million this year?
So far so good for Sony’s latest gaming handheld, the PS Vita. Not only has it had people queuing late into the night to grab one at midnight launch events, but it’s also topped the Amazon best-seller charts on pre-orders alone.
Now a forecast from Strategy Analytics suggests that the console could sell as many as 12.4 million units this year. That’s providing if Sony can handle taking a knock to their profit margins and lower the cost of the system at some point in the next 12 months, which could still result in overall revenue growth being up $800 million (£510m) on last year.
“The real value of the PlayStation Vita is its drive for content revenue growth and its strategic position in Sony’s entertainment ecosystem”, said Jia Wu, Senior Analyst for Connected Home Devices at Strategy Analytics .
“The PlayStation Store will have a vital role in selling games, videos and other content through its online access.
“We believe that PlayStation Vita will cause Sony’s 2012 portable console software revenue to grow by $800 million compared with 2011.
“Although it’s too small a device to turn the company around in terms of financial contribution, we expect it to bring in $2 billion incremental revenue from both hardware and software sales in 2012.”
Howeer, Jia Wunoted that Sony must remain mindful of the genuine threat tablets and smartphones now pose the dedicated handheld gaming market:
“To survive the march of smartphones entering the casual gaming space, Sony needs to achieve the Holy Grail of inventing innovative new gameplay whilst at the same time investing heavily in exclusive content.”
