PS3 increases global market share to 31%

The PlayStation 3 increased its global market share to 31 per cent in the first quarter of the year, up significantly from 18 per cent during the same period the previous year.

That's according to a new report by Strategy Analytics, which notes that for the first quarter the Wii's global market share stood at 49 per cent, and the Xbox 360 a 20 per cent share.

PlayStation 3 sales reached 2.2 million during the quarter, said the report, while Xbox 360 sold 1.5 million and the Wii 3.5 million.

"The PS3 continues to benefit from the price cut last September," noted David Mercer, principal analyst at Strategy Analytics. "This should help the PS3 maintain growth momentum throughout 2010."

The report predicts the PlayStation 3 will sell 14 million units throughout 2010, compared to 17.5 million Wii units and 10.5 million Xbox 360s.

In an interview on the official PlayStation site this week, Sony's European president Andrew House said that dropping the PS3 price last September had propelled sales of the console at retail.

"From a business point of view, I have to say that the stand out moment for me has to be the launch of PS3 slim at 299 euros in September 2009," he said. "We know that for a long time, PS3 was expensive and therefore holding people back. When we launched the slim PS3, sales exploded and haven’t really slowed down since."

Uncertainties for the year include the introduction of Move and Natal, said the report, as well as the extent and pace of declining Wii sales.

Strategy Analytics estimated total home console sales will drop by 9 per cent in 2010, although it suggested Microsoft's Project Natal could help the Xbox 360 pick up towards the end of the year.

"The introduction of the Natal technology should also help re-energise Microsoft’s Xbox 360 platform in the second half of the year," said Mercer.