Fri, Jan 04, 2013 | 11:20 GMT
UK console sales down a third in 2012
Britain isn’t buying as many consoles as it used to, according to findings collated by UKIE and GfK Chart-Track. It seems as if hardware sales are slowing as the next-generation looms on the horizon.
Compared to 2011, hardware sales fell by a total of 33.1% in 2012 – that’s a drop of 31.3% for handhelds and 34.1% for home consoles.
On the handheld front, newcomers PS Vita and 3DS XL failed to ignite sales, while Wii U did little to ramp up home console sales. That’s despite findings from earlier this week revealing that digital sales in 2012 generated some £552 million in the UK alone. The disparity between trends means that digital sales on PC and mobile could be coaxing gamers away from consoles.
Still, next-gen is on the way and with it a slew of potentially massive reveals this year. Check out my run-down of what games to expect in 2013 here.
Thanks MCV.


3 comments
#1
a7md1990
04/01/13, 11:08 am
“On the handheld front, newcomers PS Vita and Wii U failed…”
correction: Wii U is not a handheld device, it’s a home console, controller can’t even work outside the room in which the console is placed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_U
#2
Dave Cook
04/01/13, 11:20 am
@1 Sigh. That was a typo. The sentence originally read “On the handheld front, newcomers PS Vita and 3DS XL failed to ignite sales, while Wii U did little to ramp up home console sales.”
It’s blatantly clear that the Wii U is not a handheld device.
Editing now…
#3
a7md1990
04/01/13, 12:25 pm
LOL!! Of course you know that. Was just messing around. Surprisingly I got your attention, I feel important