Jon Peddie Research (JPR), the industry’s research and consulting firm for graphics and multimedia, has revealed the market forecast for PC gaming hardware, and the results are better than previously expected.
The worldwide personal computer gaming hardware market (systems, accessories, and upgrades) is forecasted to have gained $1.2 billion in 2009, a 5.9 percent increase versus 2008 (from $20.07 to $21.26 billion). The increase is due to higher-than-anticipated consumer demand for enthusiast, performance, and mainstream hardware influenced by the ability to play video games ranging from casual to hard-core simulations.
Due to significant growth across all major markets, the worldwide PC gaming hardware market is expected to skyrocket 30 percent this year. JPR senior video game industry analyst Ted Pollak credits this growth to a number of factors. “The largest influence on the high forecasted growth rate is purchasing delays for systems and upgrades in 2008/2009 as consumers circled the wagons and took a conservative position on discretionary spending,” he says. “A recovering economy, processing advancements, and higher-quality gaming offerings will all contribute to a healthy year for PC gaming hardware in 2010.”
As JPR president Jon Peddie points out, the PC gaming market continues to be the high-growth area and technological leader for home entertainment. “With Windows 7 and DirectX 11, advanced and exciting physics, and stereovision capabilities, the PC platform is far and away the most advanced,” he notes. “And, the PC has the added advantage that when not used for gaming, it can serve more practical purposes and double as a media center.”
JPR uses a complex methodology to pinpoint the true global, total addressable market for PC gaming hardware, which is no easy feat given the multi-dimensional nature of personal computers. The result is a report series that is highly accurate and available by segment for companies not focused on all levels of PC gaming. The report covers all major regions and provides detail for the top 37 countries.
The “Worldwide PC Gaming Hardware Market” report series by Jon Peddie Research comes in three versions: enthusiast, performance, and mainstream versions, with each version selling for $5000 and the set of three for $12,000. With the set is a summary report of the total hardware PC market worldwide.