Nordic region market report

MCV's full Nordic Market Report can be read from page 19 of this PDF.

NORDIC MARKET OVERVIEW

Chris Stanton-Jones of emerging market specialists Catapult Business Solutions provides us with a detailed run-down of the Nordic video games market…

The Nordic games market is expected to be flat year-on-year. The first two quarters were the hardest and the MDTS (Sweden trade association) reported that in Sweden game sales were down five per cent in unit terms and 10 per cent down in value terms. Trading in Q3, however, was much improved and elevated the overall cumulative years performance.

The Danish games market appears to be achieving greater growth than the other territories. In the first seven months of 2009, Danish software sales rose three per cent year-on-year. By comparison, the Swedish software market for the period went up one per cent while sales fell one per cent in Norway.

In terms of share by region, Sweden is the largest market, with about 40 per cent share, and Finland is the smallest with about 17 per cent.

In terms of hardware, after a slow start to 2009, PS3, Wii and Xbox 360 have all shown considerable growth and momentum since their price reductions.

All formats are close both in terms of installed base and week-on-week sales. It will be a fascinating contest to see who might emerge as a leader. These three formats now dominate the software business with over 55 per cent of the market value.

The PC market is still large but no longer dominates the sector, and its value share is now down to 18 to 20 per cent. PlayStation 2 software sales are down dramatically year-on-year but still sizeable and outselling DS and PSP formats combined. DS is the largest selling console although it might be starting to reach its peak.

It is difficult to track the market properly with no official sell-through data in Norway and Finland. This should be a priority for the Nordic games industry to solve.

Last year there was no major change in the retail landscape although Media Markt – a relatively new entrant to the Nordic market – are reported as one of the chains that has increased their market share the most.

There has been no significant change in retail’s buying behaviour or terms with suppliers as a result of the financial crisis.


Catapult Business Solutions estimates for the Nordic market: