Xbox and Wii to Break Playstation Domination: Analyst

Although Sony plans to launch its Playstation 3 console in North America on November 17, with Nintendo following shortly after, Microsoft already launched its next-generation console last November. The unchallenged twelve-month advantage has given the software maker a sizeable lead.

"The winner in the next-generation console battle is likely to be the Xbox 360, which is the leader in North America, the worldâs biggest market," said Yoshiyuki Kinoshita, research analyst for Merrill Lynch.

"We forecast respective market shares at end-FY3/11 of Xbox 360 [at] 39 percent, PS3 [at] 34 percent and Wii [at] 27 percent, thus overturning Sonyâs domination of the market with its PS2-based share of 69 percent, and doubling Microsoft and Nintendoâs respective market shares."

The firm further predicts that in Japan, Sony will take the lead with a 57 percent market share, while Nintendo will take the bulk of the rest at 39 percent of the market. Figures for Xbox were not supplied.

In North America, Microsoft will hold the lead with 50 percent of while Sony and Nintendo will follow with 27 and 23 percent, respectively.

"In the next-gen console market, we see the end of any common global dominant platform," Kinoshita concludes.