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[HELP] Need to submit a report on the economic factors on sales and demands of consoles world-wide.

SchneideR

By SchneideR,
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SchneideR Apprentice

SchneideR

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UPDATE:

 

Thanks a lot for all the help you guys provided. This is why I love IVG and the brothers here. I have completed my economics assignment and am on the verge of submitting it. Its a 1750 word report on "Oligopoly in Console Manufacturers" segregated into two sections explaining 1) theory of Oligopoly and 2) Example of an oligopolistic sector (in my case Console Gaming Industry). I think I have done a decent job with the report and I thank you all for your kind support. :hug:

 

Special thanks to Rashmeet, GodSpeed aka Sunil, dinjo and Bulovski for their immense help and support. :hug:

 

If you guys are keen to check it out please do pm me your email address and I will send you the report. :)

 

NOW

 

I have to submit a 3500 word Marketing Audit Report on a product and thanks to my love for the gaming industry have decided to write a report on Microsoft and specifically its product "XBox 360".

 

Reasons for choosing Xbox 360 as a product are:

 

Strengths:

 

1) Placed above PS3 in the market dominance for consoles. Basically means they are doing something right.

2) Incredible fan following for the exclusive game titles

3) Foray into the motion sensing aspect of gaming to rival Nintendo Wii's market positioning.

 

Weaknesses:

 

1) Incredible Harware failure rates

2) Major marketing gaffes as evident in E3 expo long time back.

3) Found some data while scanning the internet about the sales of Xbox 360 consoles and how PS3 everytime took some measures to offset the possible peak in sales of x360 consoles during price wars or halo release.

 

Steps I am trying to take to do a good job with this report are:

 

1) Purchased the book "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked: The Real Story Behind Microsoft's Next-Generation Video Game Console" by Dean Takahashi which has all info that I want to know about the marketing strategies and the unfortunate pitfalls of MS and its venture, the XBox 360.

 

2) Seek your help, guidance and support for allowing me to create "kickass" report on this product.

 

3) Scan through various articles that would provide some insights on the positioning and marketing strategies of Microsoft and Xbox 360. Some information that would try to make me understand the strengths and weaknesses of xbox 360 as a product.

 

:D

 

Hey brothers,

 

For my MBA report, I am given a topic of Oligopoly (Oligopoly: An oligopoly is a market form in which a market or industry is dominated by a small number of sellers (oligopolists) Source: Wikipedia) in the subject of Economics to be submitted by 20th November 2010.

 

I chose to write a report on the video game consoles industry which has an oligopolistic market share (Nintendo = 47%, MS = 28% and Sony = 25%) cause lets face it, this way studies can be fun. :P

 

I have to prepare a report based on

 

1) the economic factors that drive the sales of these consoles

2) the extent to which this industry is an oligopoly and

3) the extent to which this industry could support price fixing (forming a cartel'esque collaboration to fix market prices).

 

 

Now the help that I require is in the form of any helpful reports, links, articles or snippets that can aid me in my report writing. Please post them here or email me the reports and documents that can help me. Kindly pm me for my email id.

 

I will also need the source of any information that you will post cause in report writing, a protocol of referencing is followed strictly. Looking forward to your help and support. :)

 

 

So far I have found these very helpful links to aid me:

 

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/28709/Analyst_PlayStation_3_Captured_31_Percent_Market_Share_In_Q1_Will_Grow.php

http://news.vgchartz.com/news.php?id=7129

http://gamrfeed.vgchartz.com/story/82590/2010-year-on-year-sales-and-market-share-update-to-october-23rd/

http://uk.gamespot.com/ps3/adventure/metalgearsolid4/news.html?sid=6194691

http://www.totalvideogames.com/PlayStation-3/feature-14420.html

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10268239-1.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Console_exclusivity#Impact_of_exclusivity_on_sales

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/100773-Report-Console-Exclusives-Dont-Drive-Sales

http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/media_entertainment/how-much-do-video-games-matter-when-buying-a-console/

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/34025/UK-lifetime-console-sales-revealed

http://www.digital-digest.com/blog/DVDGuy/2010/05/17/game-consoles-april-2010-npd-sales-figure-analysis/

http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/media_entertainment/video-game-engagement-at-all-time-high-during-recession/

http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/media_entertainment/the-state-of-the-video-gamer-suitable-for-all-ages/

http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/consumer/every-gaming-system-has-its-fans-but-women-like-wii/

http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/11/04/console-wars-the-effect-of-price-cuts-on-the-xbox-360-wii-and-ps3/

http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/700053/analysis-september-2009-hardware-sales----playstation-3-nearly-hits-500000.html

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=405211

 

Price fixing in the case of consoles:

 

http://www.vgchartz.com/weekly.php?date=40069®=World&date=40062

http://www.vgchartz.com/article/81905/playstation-3-slim-vs-xbox-360-s-launch-sales-comparison/

http://i.joystiq.com/2010/09/21/uk-xbox-360-sales-double-in-wake-of-halo-reach/

 

 

 

 

Thanks in advance for the help provided. :hug:

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Bulovski Newbie

Bulovski

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Taking your queries 1 by 1:

 

1) Economic factors which drive the sales - Track against per capita income, tv sales, income distribution by age bracket, console price as percentage of per capita income, size of entertainment market and size of gaming market. Just start making up the factors and find correlation. Find the reason later if any. Please remember the good ole advice about not mixing up cause and effect of correlated results.

2) Extent of oligopoly = 100 - sum(Market share of MS+Nintendo+Sony). I don't remember much of my eco - what are you trying to achieve by this metric? The only thing I can think of is the price sensitivity. Higher oligopoly means the cartel can screw around with prices willy nilly.

3) Extent of price fixing - Again, I would be really interested in your approach here. The only data I can think of is the price of consoles but they have consistently dropped. Prices don't rise, except for new consoles. Wouldn't you need prices to rise to test sensitivity? You could probably check how long price is constant over a period of time.

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DinJo Proficient

DinJo

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I didn't google its just what i have learnt over the years

 

1) the economic factors that drive the sales of these consoles

Availability of loan (Not another Mortgage :bigyellowgrin: ) & purchasing power. You can also add on demographic factors to show how American gaming industry has grown with average gamer age being 30, also add on the social factors to explain why some countries still dont think gaming is right way to carrer.

 

2) the extent to which this industry is an oligopoly

Since its just 3 players its a perfect oligopoly market with players selling branded products , market players constantly try to come up with exclusive games to react to competitor and there are significant barriers to entry for new players

 

3) the extent to which this industry could support price fixing (forming a cartel'esque collaboration to fix market prices).

Refer to Oligopoly pricing theory to relate to DLC

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SchneideR Apprentice

SchneideR

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Would love to help, but I have a world of pain in the form of exams and a presentation in China in the middle of that coming this month...

 

So for now, I shall FREE BUMP this.. hope some beeeeezzzness people like MT notice it. :good: Good luck Schneider!

 

No problem bro... Thanks for the wishes... :cheers:

 

Taking your queries 1 by 1:

 

1) Economic factors which drive the sales - Track against per capita income, tv sales, income distribution by age bracket, console price as percentage of per capita income, size of entertainment market and size of gaming market. Just start making up the factors and find correlation. Find the reason later if any. Please remember the good ole advice about not mixing up cause and effect of correlated results.

2) Extent of oligopoly = 100 - sum(Market share of MS+Nintendo+Sony). I don't remember much of my eco - what are you trying to achieve by this metric? The only thing I can think of is the price sensitivity. Higher oligopoly means the cartel can screw around with prices willy nilly.

3) Extent of price fixing - Again, I would be really interested in your approach here. The only data I can think of is the price of consoles but they have consistently dropped. Prices don't rise, except for new consoles. Wouldn't you need prices to rise to test sensitivity? You could probably check how long price is constant over a period of time.

 

Bulaaaaaa :hug: Thanks for your inputs... Please keep them coming...

 

1) Will try to corelate these factors with the sales of consoles.

2) Oligopoly is the topic of the report and I need to explain (as dinjo) has explained below the extent to which I can term this industry as Oligopoly... :)

3) Price Fixing (in the form of cartel) Most probably I need to explain that MS, Wii and Sony do not have a price fixing cartel (at least direct cartel as its illegal) but the prices of the hardwares and softwares are more or less dependent on the competitors pricing strategy. If MS decides to drop the price of its consoles to an extremely large extent then Sony enters a price war and tries to overcome this with some sort of initiative. Price is fixed to gain a competitive edge rather than share the revenues and market.

 

One extremely interesting article that I found on Sony and MS's price war is this: Its really insightful to read. :)

 

http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/11/04/console-wars-the-effect-of-price-cuts-on-the-xbox-360-wii-and-ps3/

 

I didn't google its just what i have learnt over the years

 

1) the economic factors that drive the sales of these consoles

Availability of loan (Not another Mortgage :bigyellowgrin: ) & purchasing power. You can also add on demographic factors to show how American gaming industry has grown with average gamer age being 30, also add on the social factors to explain why some countries still dont think gaming is right way to carrer.

 

2) the extent to which this industry is an oligopoly

Since its just 3 players its a perfect oligopoly market with players selling branded products , market players constantly try to come up with exclusive games to react to competitor and there are significant barriers to entry for new players

 

3) the extent to which this industry could support price fixing (forming a cartel'esque collaboration to fix market prices).

Refer to Oligopoly pricing theory to relate to DLC

 

Thanks a lot for the input dinjo. That really helps... :cheers:

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godspeed4476 Apprentice

godspeed4476

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Dude. If you plan on quoting/citing facts or figures from some of the websites in your OP , you are off to a wrong start. If you are using them to develop your understanding then its fine. and if you list wikipedia in your sources be ready for a HUGE reprimand from your tutor :P

the 45, 28, 25 ratio that you have selected may not be completely accurate, remember you have selected video games consoles industry (gameboy, PSP are part of it as well)

I really wish i could have helped you, but right now i am also a writer for Ivory research (yea i get paid for writing students thesis and coursework :) and have my hands full with 2 assignments.

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SchneideR Apprentice

SchneideR

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Dude. If you plan on quoting/citing facts or figures from some of the websites in your OP , you are off to a wrong start. If you are using them to develop your understanding then its fine. and if you list wikipedia in your sources be ready for a HUGE reprimand from your tutor :P

the 45, 28, 25 ratio that you have selected may not be completely accurate, remember you have selected video games consoles industry (gameboy, PSP are part of it as well)

I really wish i could have helped you, but right now i am also a writer for Ivory research (yea i get paid for writing students thesis and coursework :) and have my hands full with 2 assignments.

 

Hey bro... :hug: No i wont be using the internet websites as my reference... Will be using texts for theories and principles... Just the data and articles help me in understanding the overall aspects of the industry... When I mention Oligopoly in Console industry I will basically be tackling the oligopoly between Ms, Nintendo and Sony.

 

BTW wont the Consoles be Wii, PS3 and x360 and the handhelds be PSP and DS? Correct me if I am wrong... BTW check pm... :D

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Nemo Rookie

Nemo

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sh*t ! after reading all the posts here it makes me feel how incredibly lacking of real life applications my grad economics studies were (or probably i slacked a lot).

anyhoo, will ask a friend who is doing masters in eco if he cud help you out here.

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SchneideR Apprentice

SchneideR

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You cannot disregard DS since it outsells everything. Also take into account the huge popularity of the PS2 in emerging markets, and the effect of the gameboy.

 

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V

 

Its not the products but the market maker which determines in Oligopoly , product wise comparison would have being right in Perfect Competition but not in oligopoly.

 

Correct. I think when I am discussing Oligopoly I have to take the companies MS, Sony and Nintendo into consideration and how they are competing rather than its products...

 

Well for my marketing report I will mostly be taking x360 as my product on which I will be creating a report (there I will require info about consoles individually).

 

@Nemo: Any help will be greatly appreciated. :hug:

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SchneideR Apprentice

SchneideR

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tu toh firangi hogaya nikhil :devil:

 

well got nothing to help you on this topic...except my best wishes :hug:

 

Kakaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa :wOOtjumpy: Thanks :hug:

 

Dimaag kharab ho gaya hai yaha pe... Sochta hu apna India and company mein falthu naukri hi thik thi... :wallbash:

 

Ohh yessss!

 

:fap:

 

:lol:

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SchneideR Apprentice

SchneideR

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Alan Wake Ltd Edition was really low priced.

 

Can use that example for competitive pricing :scratchchin:

 

If u are talking about price fixing via collusion, then u wont get much info

 

Hmmm thats the reason why I want to find the titles which were priced differently for x360 and PS3. To give some sort of a hint that MS and Sony are not in a price fixing cartel. Instead they are competing with each other to eat the opponents market share.. :fear:

 

One question: Is it true that neither Sony nor MS have any control in the pricing of the games for their consoles? If so then the above example will be a moot point. :(

 

Are we talking India or worldwide?

 

Indian example will do just fine bro... :)

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