In this assignment I researched and wrote a market analysis on PlayStation

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A Market Analysis for
PlayStation
Grant Minney
Full Sail University
Project & Portfolio II: Business and Marketing
November 19, 2020

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report outlines the effects of a forever growing industry on PlayStation. It outlines
the effects that PC’s have on the industry. It shows that when it comes to console gaming there is
a lot of improvements that can be made to have the best console in the industry. This analysis
outlines how the company is extremely successful and how PlayStation can take their platform to
the next level.

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O
OBJECTIVE
Based on our current consumers, how can Sony improve their customer experience in
order to make current and future consumers happier?
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Most information was found on the internet or was sourced through surveys that targeted
current and potential consumers. All financial information was accurate on the day it was
obtained. All information obtained was gathered or reported from 2018 to 2020 to provide more
accurate results.
RESEARCH AND KEY FINDINGS
PlayStation is a company that is owned by Sony, they specialize in the entertainment and
technology industries with a lot of their notable work in
television, film, and console gaming. They have led the
industry with films like “Spiderman” and “Men in Black”.
They have popular shows on television like “The Boys” and
“Breaking Bad”. Their console, the PlayStation 2 has sold the most units of any other console
(Yaden, 2020). With the release of the PlayStation5 they are hoping to beat that number.
PlayStation is a financially sound company reporting a net income of $5.4 billion (statista.com,
2020).

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With the gaming culture constantly growing it is becoming harder and harder to stay
relevant in the industry. PC gaming has been ahead of consoles for years. The technology exists
but consoles haven’t caught on to the idea of trying to make their graphics and refresh rates
compete with the PC industry. The Xbox
and PlayStation are essentially the same
console when it comes to hardware. If
PlayStation can find a way to increase
their frames per second without losing 4k
graphics, they could take over the
console gaming industry. Fans of the
PlayStation want a recycling program. Right now, BestBuy is one of a few places you can drop a
broken console off to have the parts recycled. If PlayStation can find a way to get those consoles
sent back to them, they can recycle their own products to use for their newer ones. This makes
the gaming industry more environmentally friendly and helps consumers know that PlayStation
will do whatever they can to limit their carbon footprint.
CONCLUSIONS
PlayStation is doing really well compared to most of their competition. With the release
of their newest gaming console they proved that they are ready for the digital age by releasing a
console that doesn’t have a disc drive for a lower cost to consumers. But this console may be less
popular because you can’t trade in your games for store credits at places like GameStop and
Vintage Stock. And with most games being cross compatible from the PlayStation 4 to the
PlayStation 5 what are people supposed to do with their old consoles? Offering a program where
you can drop off your old PlayStation doesn’t offer enough incentive to part ways with your

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console. There needs to be more done for the consumer to motivate people to recycle their
unused systems.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on my research PlayStation needs to find a way to not just match the competition
but to beat it. Through hardware upgrades and better recycling programs and initiatives,
PlayStation will exceed in the gaming industry. As graphics are becoming better consoles have
to evolve to meet the demands of consumers. The eSports industry is growing on a scale larger
than was ever expected and people want to have the highest frames per second (fps) that they can
have. The most recent Call of Duty championship was played on PlayStation. That one
tournament gathered 331,558 people to watch their favorite teams compete to take home the
trophy. Professional players on PC will argue that having a higher fps will give you an advantage
over your competition in game and most say they won’t consider playing under 60 fps which is
two times more than the PlayStation offers. Therefore, PlayStation is missing a very large market
of gamers. Nearly 48% of gamers are playing on PC so almost half of the market is lost because
of performance issues on consoles (Hruska, 2020).
Through a new recycling program PlayStation can offer credits to their store for sending
in an old console. These consoles can then be refurbished and sold back to consumers or
recycled and used to make next generation consoles. The store credits can be used to buy new
games, controllers, or in game skins. This way not only can PlayStation say they have one of the
best recycling programs, but they are also rewarding their consumers for doing the right thing.

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REFERENCES
Joel Hruska on August 19, 2. (2020, August 20). 3 Billion People Worldwide Are Gamers, and
Nearly Half Play on PCs. Retrieved November 22, 2020, from
https://www.extremetech.com/gaming/314009-3-billion-people-worldwide-are-gamers-
and-nearly-half-play-on-pcs
P. (2019). PlayStation Logo. Retrieved 2020, from https://collider.com/ps5-release-specs/
P. (n.d.). PlayStation 2 [Photograph].
Tankovska, H., & 9, S. (2020, September 09). Sony net income 2007-2019. Retrieved November
22, 2020, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/279271/net-income-of-sony-since-2008/
W. (2020). Number of Gamers by Year. Retrieved 2020, from
https://www.wepc.com/news/video-game-statistics/
Yaden, J. (2020, October 01). The Bestselling Consoles of All Time. Retrieved November 22,
2020, from https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/bestselling-consoles-of-all-time/