Farsala on 22 January 2016
Europe is a lot bigger now so it appears to be more front loaded. We are looking at Europe growing for the market leader. 3rd year is usually the peak for standard priced consoles due to the US and Japan. A slim will most likely create legs for the PS4.
To put into numbers
Market leader in US 7th gen: 45-48m
Market leader so far 8th gen: 12m (25%)
Market leader in Europe 7th gen: 32-35m
Market leader so far in 8th gen: ~14m (40-44%)
Market leader in Japan 7th gen: 12.5m
Market leader so far in 8th gen: 2.3-3m (18-24%)
You can easily see why this gen might appear to be more front loaded, but it is simply due to growth in Europe (and RoW I might add), despite stagnation in Japan.
