Enterbrain: PS3 Stands To Take Lead By 2009

Rough start in the early running for Sony could nonetheless pave the way to continued market lead in a closer race, maybe even as early as Q4 2007

While Famitsu publisher and industry analyst Enterbrain has faith in Nintendo's Wii, it still feels Sony will remain the dominant player in the global console gaming market in the next-generation console race. Enterbrain president Hirokazu Hamamura admits Sony will have a rough time at the start with its PlayStation 3 console thanks to sticker shock as well as limited supply and equally limited number of games, but its hardware potential cannot be ignored and so the console will maintain a competitive edge against its more affordable rivals.

For the record, Enterbrain predicts over 4 millions PS3 consoles will be sold by March 2007, almost 2 million short of Sony's own 6 million. The Wii is expected to take the early lead by that point with around 5.75 millions units sold. This situation could change by the end of 2007 provided Sony is able to make the PS3 more attractive to consumers through a larger software lineup of popular titles, and of course a price drop.

Sony could be the market leader by the end of 2009, although the gap between the main competitors will be smaller this time around. Enterbrain forecasts a potential 34 million PS3 shipments worldwide compared to 28 million units for Microsoft's Xbox 360, and 25 million in the case of the Wii.