The video game industry is the economic sector involved with the development, marketing and sale of video games. It encompasses numbers of job disciplines and employs a lot of people worldwide. It includes video game consoles, game software, handheld devices, mobile games and online games. Console is the largest segment in the industry. In recent years, the video gaming industry has been growing rapidly and it may grow in the future.
The three main competitor companies in this industry are Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo. Microsoft is a multinational computer technology corporation that specialize in software such as Microsoft Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office suite. But what is more important they are best known for their consumer products Xbox. Sony is one of the biggest manufacturers of electronics, video, communications, video game consoles, and information technology products for the consumer. The latest generation of its console game products is the Playstation 3 which replaced Playsation 2.Finally Nintendo is one of the largest Japanese technology companies well known for its console games. Its latest and the most successful console Wii was able to outshine Microsoft’s’s Xbox and Sony’s PS3.
Analysis of the competitive industry
Organizations view competition in an industry as a crucial issue that needs to be analyzed. In terms of economic theory (cited by Johnsons et al.) industry may be defined as “a group of firms producing the same principal products” p. 59.
According to Lynch (2006) analyzing a particular industry starts with general examination of the forces that have an impact on the organization. The main objective is to reach competitive advantage of the organization and therefore it would be able to defeat the rival companies. In terms of gaming industry, Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo with their respective hardware’s MS Xbox 360, PS 3