Ainsi, entre août 2007 et août 2008, en dépit des contraintes de distribution, le marché des consoles de salon a pu croître de 34% en valeur et 42% en volume, celui des consoles portables de respectivement 11% et 13%.

Communiqué original ci-dessous.

Games Consoles exhibit impressive UK growth across the board

In August 2008, The Video Games Console market grew year on year by 29% in volume and 27% in Value.

Despite tough retail conditions, the market has enjoyed growth in multiple areas, with consoles for the home growing by 34% in value and 42% in volume (August 2008 versus August 2007) and portable consoles growing by 11% in value and 13% in volume.

Drilling deeper into the growth of Home Consoles, as expected, next generation models are driving the market and August 2008 saw a volume growth of 55% and a value growth of 40% against August 2007.

Home Games Consoles are steadily becoming more affordable, and in August 2008 the average price of a Home Games Console was £204, a 6% decline in price compared to August 2007.

We are still seeing a large percentage of Games Consoles being sold as a bundle, with 45% of Games Consoles sold in August 2008 being sold with either Software or Accessories.

As the current generation of Portable Games Consoles approach approximately four years of age, the portable area continues to grow, and the average price of a handheld console still holds at £106 (August 2008), which represents only a 1.7% price decline against August 2007.

Alongside Games Consoles, we have also tracked a very strong performance from Console Input Devices (Joypads, Steering Wheels, Remotes etc), and August 2008 showed a 229% volume growth and a 470% Value growth when compared to August 2007. With the next generation consoles all making use of wireless functionality, it appears that consumers are interested in extra devices to use when gaming.

As the average price of a Full HD Flat Panel Television dropped below £1000 back in March 2008, and Full HD TV’s accounted for 20% of Flat Panel TV sales in August, more and more people will be in a position to experience games in Full HD, and it will be interesting to see if the credit crunch causes a slow down in both Full HD TV and Games Console sales, or if dropping prices will continue to drive growth, or at least volume growth, in both of these markets.