Although the Xbox 360 leads the PlayStation 3 in the U.S., the global picture shows Microsoft's console has lost ground to Sony's as of the end of 2010, says a new report from data firm Strategy Analytics.

According to the company's data, the Nintendo Wii continues to enjoy the world's largest install base with 75.5 million active units worldwide, but the active install base of PS3s reached 43.4 million at the close of 2010 versus Xbox 360's 42.9.

Strategy Analytics says that Xbox 360's relative weakness in Europe and Asia "acts as a drag on its global performance," even factoring in the boost the console saw from the launch of the Kinect motion-sensing peripheral.

Just today, GameStop cited data from IDG that showed that while the Xbox 360 still led the PS3 in the U.S. by 10 million units, Sony's console retailed a slightly bigger share of the European audience, with 14.7 million units to the Xbox 360's 13.7 million units.

"While the Kinect peripheral has given a boost to Microsoft’s Xbox 360 strategy, the console’s performance outside of the U.S. continues to disappoint,” says Strategy Analytics' Digital Consumer Practice analyst Jia Wu, who authored the report.

"Global demand for Sony’s PS3 has exceeded that of the Xbox 360 in each of the past two years, and we expect that to continue over the coming years," Wu adds, recommending Microsoft "continue[s] to innovate around its motion sensor technology, which will become increasingly relevant in the smart home era."

The report predicts that Xbox 360 will grow its global sales by 13.7 million by the end of this year, while PS3 will also expand to 15.7 million units. The Wii, conversely, is expected to continue declining (a contraction on which Gamasutra analyst Matt Matthews says the Xbox 360 can capitalize).

Strategy Analytics says Wii's sales will fall by just over 10 million units over the year, leaving it in third place in hardware rankings -- and making it an opportune time for Nintendo to "launch a Wii successor within the next 12 months."

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/33854/Analysts_PS3_Passes_Xbox_360_Worldwide_Nintendo_Successor_Within_A_Year.php

Key word to consider: ANALYSTS (cough Patcher)

I agree with their perdictions fully.

I just read this on a different website and thought they were saying that the ps3 has sold more units then the xbox 360 all together.

These are the same guys that predicted 127 million PS3s would be sold.

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=103336&page=1

Oh noes, Wii is overtracked 10 millions!

yeeouch..there should definitely be a "banned list of sources" to quote/reference for sales figures.

Wikipedia, these guys, amazon, data that flow from your crack...etc

Oh those guys, if I remember they are the ones that made the negative wii sales chart. Sorry but if it is the same guys, they are sony fanboys....no educated person with knowledge of an industry would make that many mistakes.

Just wow.

No. The numbers are not missing quarters... the numbers are active base.

Just active consoles count... broke consoles (RROD?) not count.

So makes sense PS3 was over 360 now... because the failure hate of PS3 is so much less than 360.

Using the VGC numbers for comparison:

PS3: 46.3m - 6.7% failure rate = 43.4m
360: 50.3m - 14.2% failure rate = 42.9m

Seems ok for me... 360 had a bigger failure rate with RROD and not everyone used the warranty.

Just remember, SHIPPED > SALES > ACTIVE BASE.

Doesn't matter what way you spin this because PS3 has not outsold the 360 so deal with it.