Our favorite analyst, Michael Pachter, explained to the gaming world that the Kinect vs PlayStation Move war isn't really a war so much as it is a massacre. The sales performance of Sony's motion control solution has paled in comparison to the world record setting sales performance of Microsoft's Kinect.
In a note to investors, the Wedbush Morgan analyst highlighted some important numbers regarding the relative success of the two competing platforms, most notably that the Kinect was outselling the PlayStation Move big time.
"Under one-fifth of PS3 sales included bundles with Sony’s Move controller, suggesting another modest month."
"Over 2/3 of Xbox 360 sales included bundles with Microsoft’s Kinect peripheral, as Xbox 360 Kinect console bundles again outsold PS3 Move console bundles by over 5:1. We note that the top selling Kinect software titles easily outsold their Move counterparts."
Naturally, the sales of software would be linked to the number of homes equipped to play that software. Kinect's tremendous sales success is giving Microsoft the edge in this market and will no doubt draw more development to the new platform.
What's most interesting is that this isn't the first time Pachter is giving us this news. 2 months ago, Pachter announced that the Kinect console bundles were outselling the PlayStation Move console bundles by the same ratio of 5:1. He also revealed that the top two software titles for Kinect outsold the top two PlayStation Move titles by a ratio of 13:1.
It would appear that if Sony really wants to compete in this market space, they're going to have to really innovate and get people interested in their console's motion control device. Kinect on the other hand doesn't even seem to need any help from the developers as enthusiasts have really taken a liking to the device. It has been the subject of a large number of hacks since its release to the public last November, involving everything from playing World of Warcraft and also Call of Duty to downright blowing our minds by recreating a room in 3d in real time.
The good will Kinect is generating for Microsoft is one of the reasons Pachter feels that Xbox 360 is going to outshine the other consoles for the next little while.
"We expect demand for the Xbox 360 to remain stronger than the other consoles due to the popularity of Kinect. We expect Wii and PS3 hardware sales to continue to decline (despite February’s up month for both) in the first part of 2011."
Another good way for Sony to remain competitive is to drop the price of their console and the PlayStation Move console bundle. Similarly, a price cut for the Wii is long overdue as its sales have started to slow down as Nintendo's aging hardware has been finally starting to lose traction in the market.
Pachter has already suggested that price cuts are likely going to come with this summer's E3, with Microsoft initiating the charge, and the other two console manufacturers following suit to remain competitive. Pachter once again reiterated this thought, explaining that no price cuts could mean decreased hardware sales.
"Without further price cuts, we expect hardware sales to be down in 2011, and we think that the console manufacturers will position cuts around the E3 Expo in early June."
E3 is sure to be an interesting event this year as each of the three console manufacturers really brings their big guns to the table as they all compete to come out on top by the end of this console cycle.
Do you think that this lack of change in market presence is a sign that Sony's PlayStation Move is doomed to obscurity, or is Kinect's sales performance just unnaturally successful?
Source: MCV