If you are going to make gaming peripherals, you are better off making them for the PlayStation 4 (PS4), at least according to a report from Strategy Analytics. According to their projections, the PS4 is expected to ship about 80 million units by 2019, 40 percent more than the second-place Xbox One. Of course, 57 million Xbox Ones shipped is nothing to scoff at, but it does illustrate the substantial lead that Sony has established in the home gaming market, especially in markets outside the US.

Currently, Strategy Analytics estimates that there have been 18.5 million PS4 units shipped since it launched last year, leading the market by about 6 million units. The Xbox One and the Wii U have not sold as well, with the Xbox One shipping 12.4 million units over the past year and the Wii U shipping a relatively anemic 3.44 million units over the past year, respectively.

Nevertheless, there is some reason to discount the apparent disparity of sales of PS4s and Xbox Ones; at launch, Microsoft’s console was US$100 more expensive and required its interactive Kinect camera system. After falling behind in sales to its rival Sony, the company revamped its marketing strategy, made the Kinect optional, and dropped the price by US$150 in the US (global pricing varies greatly, but the company dropped the price of the console significantly in most markets). According to a report in Ars Technica, holiday sales of the Xbox One were far closer to those of the PS4. Instead of PS4s selling almost 3 times as many consoles as it had in the first 9 months of the year, PS4s outsold the Xbox One by a margin of between 1.42-1.17:1.

One thing of note in the report is that while the installed base for older consoles like the Xbox 360, PS3, and even the PS2 are declining, they are still as big as (or even larger than) the installed base of PS4/Xbox One devices. Strategy Analytics estimates that there are still over 80 million Xbox 360s and PS3s currently in use (though slightly more PS3s than 360s), and there are about as many PS2s in use as there are Wii Us on the market. While these will undoubtedly decline over the next few years, the company does not expect the installed base of this generation of consoles to surpass the last until 2016. Overall, this could mean that gaming peripheral makers can still address a very significant market for older consoles – they may prefer replacing a broken controller to buying a new console.

See a comparison table of selected PS4 accessory suppliers on GlobalSources.com