Historical console market growth in SA revealed

Market research company Gfk has provided MyGaming with some statistics on the growth of the SA console gaming market over the years.

The stats below reflect all home consoles and portable consoles on sale during the reported period.

While Gfk cannot share details such as units sold, breakdown by console, and revenue projections (you’ll have to pay for those reports), they have provided MyGaming with a unique set of information that gives insight into the continued growth of Gaming in South Africa.

Below you will find tables detailing: the growth of the market over the past 5 years, each relative to the year prior; the growth in popularity of portable gaming consoles; and the impact of bundling consoles with games and hardware.

Growth Rate of Video Game Consoles Market in SA (Volume)
	2008 Growth Rate	2009 Growth Rate	2010 Growth Rate	2011 Growth Rate	2012 Growth Rate
Game Consoles Market Growth (year on year)	15.10%	0.10%	14.90%	22.30%	-8.70%

Home Systems vs Portables Systems Market (Volume)
	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	Jan 13 – Oct 13
Home system	81.60%	79.00%	75.10%	72.70%	66.20%	67.50%
Portable system	18.40%	21.00%	24.90%	27.30%	33.80%	32.50%

Importance of Bundles in the SA VG Consoles Market (Volume)
	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	Jan 13 – Oct 13
No bundle	40.20%	35.40%	28.70%	34.90%	36.20%	34.50%
Bundle with software	18.60%	24.40%	46.60%	43.00%	27.50%	23.10%
Bundle with other product	12.40%	10.80%	5.30%	6.40%	6.70%	6.10%
Bundle with software + other product	28.80%	29.40%	19.40%	15.70%	29.70%	36.40%

2009 is an interesting case – the MyGaming bearded oracle reckons that there were not many worthy platform sellers that year (although there was that little global economic recession as well).

Indeed, the only games scoring above 90 on Metacritic in 2009 were: Uncharted 2; Modern Warfare 2; Street Fighter IV; Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars; Braid; God of War Collection; Batman: Arkham Asylum; and Forza 3.

2012 proved to be a poor year for console sales growth, and while the 2013 figures are yet to be finalised, it wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine the trend continuing.

This may well be due to the extended life of the seventh generation of consoles leaving gamers fatigued and waiting for next-gen platforms and titles.

2010 and 2011 seemed to be the years of consoles bundled with software, with many of those consumers picking up new a console apparently lured in by a game or two packed with it.