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PC Gaming Suffering Least in Games Biz

27.05.2009
We've long heard how teflon-coated video games are despite the bum economy, but what if I told you PC gaming in particular's been the most resilient of all? That's what just concluded in its market forecast for PC gaming hardware, a report that "took almost five years to bring it to life" and which combines "bottom-up" GPU and PC shipment forecasts with macro-economic "top-down" forecasts for 36 countries.

According to JPR, the total PC games hardware market should drop US$1.4 billion this year, down 7 points from $20.07 billion in 2008 to $18.65 billion in 2009. Blame a sales slump tied to the recession, but also lower prices on PCs and components due to the increasingly competitive economic climate, says JPR. Despite that, the report concludes, "PC gaming systems seem to have suffered the least discounting which illustrates the value consumers place on such systems."

And here's the particularly illuminating angle: The nearly $19 billion in PC games hardware sales? It's set to "eclipse" the hardware market for all gaming consoles combined by some $2 billion. Lest you balk at the apples-oranges comparison, note that JPR takes into account "the console, a certain amount of accessories, and a factor for the cost of an HDTV to display the games on."

Here's JPR's PC Gaming Hardware Market forecast (in billions) through 2012. *

2008 - $20,0762009 - $18,6582010 - $23,9372011 - $28,9072012 - $30,672

* PC gaming hardware includes the PC, a percentage for the monitor (because some people will already have one), a percentage of accessories like driving wheels and special mice/joysticks, as well as aftermarket and DIY parts and systems.