Analyst Predicts PS3 Lead, Next-Gen PSP

[wraggster]

Gamers can barely predict what will happen within the industry between today and tomorrow, let alone sound respectable and forecasting two years from. That's the job of analysts at Piper Jaffray, though, and their latest release includes such whoppers as: PlayStation 3 leading in hardware sales and a new PSP model next year.
Piper Jaffray says by 2008, PlayStation 3 will have grabbed 45-50% of the hardware market, with Xbox 360 barely trailing at 35-40% and Nintendo dropping to a minority share of 15%. In fact, they predict Revolution adoption to move at an almost snail's pace, with only half a million units next year, two in 2007 and three in 2008.

The race between Sony and Microsoft, however, will far more competitive, but Piper Jaffray eventually predicts PlayStation 3 will pull ahead of the pack. In the end, though, the competition between the three systems will produce an impressive 30% total increase in consumer purchases for videogame systems.

Almost more interesting, however, is the speculation Sony will release a "next-generation PSP" with an audio/video hard-drive next summer. A remodled version of the PSP with two analog sticks would be fantastic, but Sony purposely cutting into the lucrative sales of memory sticks doesn't really jive with a philosophy based on the bottom line.

They're the ones paid to be analysts, though, not me, so we'll see how Piper Jaffray's predictions roll out over the next few years.

[scrabbus]

Hmmm, as always the bluff and bluster from Sony rings untrue again and again, I mean come on, its always teh same announcements, is it because the DS is trouncing the psp in japan?

[mobiletech]

Would you really listen to anyone called Piper Jaffray? I think Sony putting a hard drive in a PSP would mean an even larger growth in piracy. I think they've learnt their lesson with the first PSP.

[leggy]

I really do believe that Sony will release a PSP with a hard drive. To compete with other future machines it will have to.