Plummeting PS2 and PSP sales shrunk Sony's market share in 2009

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For many, 2009 was the year Sony started turning things around: the PS3 finally dropped to an affordable price with an ad campaign that didn't give children nightmares. However, Gamasutra's Matt Matthews points out that in terms of revenue, 2009 is one of the worst years for the company. Whereas Sony was able to generate $6.4 billion in revenue from its family of PlayStation products in 2008, the company was only able to rake in $5.1 billion in 2009 -- that's a drop of $1.3 billion, or 20 percent.

While Microsoft and Nintendo also shed some revenue in the difficult economic climate, their losses seem insignificant in comparison: about $200 million each. Matthews notes that a large portion of Sony's lost revenue in 2009 comes from sagging sales of its decade-old PS2 platform. The (understandable) lack of software sales on the PS2 resulted in the loss of approximately $700 million in revenue, while hardware sales have contracted another $150 million.

The PSP also had a difficult year, and it appears the PSP Go hasn't turned around Sony's fortunes. According to Gamasutra's analysis, hardware and software sales on Sony's handheld shrank by about $425 million in 2009. With the demise of the PS2, and the languishing state of the PSP, Sony's former dominance of the market seems but a memory.

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/01/18/pl...share-in-2009/