Analyst Sees Kinect Edging Out Move In 2011

An analysis by UK firm Screen Digest predicts Sony will add 7.3 million PlayStation Move-enabled consoles worldwide during calendar 2011, falling just behind predicted sales of 7.6 million Xbox 360 Kinect units for Microsoft. The firm's predictions, as reported by GameSpot, do not include 2010 sales of the popular new motion control accessories, which launched worldwide in time for this holiday season. Thus far, Sony says it has shipped 4.1 million Move controllers worldwide through the end of November, though it's unclear exactly how many of those have been sold through to consumers. The Kinect, meanwhile, sold 2.5 million units worldwide through November, according to Microsoft. The firm expects sales for the camera-based controller to reach 5 million by the end of the calendar year. Strong sales for both controllers helped bump up industry-wide North American accessory sales for November by 69 percent, year over year, according to NPD numbers. The single-month results made the Kinect the top-selling gaming accessory for the entire year, the firm said. [UPDATE: Screen Digest's Piers Harding-Rolls comments, in response to a Gamasutra request for clarification: "Our [data] actually refers to new Move and Kinect enabled consoles added during 2011, not installed base, which we forecast to be 11.7 million for Move and 12.1 million for Kinect by end of 2011." He added: "Please note that the Move numbers refer to Move-enabled consoles and not total Move peripheral sales (as a % are bought for multiplayer gaming on single consoles)."]