Sony ahead Nitendo in Japan, the battle began !

[Oyvoyvoyv]

The OP has a point, although the handheld fight started last year.

 

There's a real competition in Japan now. Up untill Q3 08, Wii has had 70-75% marketshare... Now it is at 49% so far into the year.

Here's the numbers (copied and pasted from another post)

Q4 06 - 1.13M - 62% Market share

Q1 07: - 1.07M - 70%

Q2 07: 0.96M - 82%

Q3 07: 0.76M - 73%

Q4 07: 1.24M - 66%

Q1 08: 1.14M - 73%

Q2 08: 0.69M - 73%

Q3 08: 0.5M - 65%

Q4 08: 0.83M - 62%

 

So far into Q1 09: 0.34M - 49%

So Wii vs Ps3 + X360 is now a fight in Japan. Pretty much on equal terms as the "fight" is in Others (but not in Americas, where Wii is at around 57% for the year)

 

So Japan is overall a lot more interesting now in that sense. I believe that is what the OP meant.

 

Then there's the handheld battle...

So far this year, DS has 62% market share. It seems to me that DS is going to hold a steady 60-40% marketshare through the year (whereas it was much more exiting last year, with it essentially being a tie through the entire year).

 

So DS has a down year, but should now (due to the DSi) sell 50% more than the PsP. Wii is having a down-year this year (that doesn't necessarily mean it will go up like the DS though) and is now on pretty much the same terms as DS vs PsP was last year.

 

So I agree with the OP, except that the real battle (ie, the first time they were close to each other in a while) started last year. The battle that's starting now is just the scraps (consoles)