Strategy Analytics predicts that the global installed base of Sony's PlayStation 4 (PS4) will reach 80 million units by 2019, compared to 57 million for Microsoft's Xbox One, giving the PS4 a lead of 40 percent. According to Strategy Analytics' Connected Home Devices (CHD) report, with the PS4, Sony is on a path to reproduce the success of the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo Wii, having shipped 18.5 million units in its first year as total Game Console shipments grew 11 percent year-on-year in 2014 to 34 million units.

Microsoft shipped 12.4 million Xbox One units, cruising past the 10.4 million Xbox 360 units shipped in its first year, but mirroring some of the difficulties of the PS3 launch, such as a high price point.

The struggling Nintendo Wii U is following in the footsteps of the GameCube, having shipped only 5.9 million units in its first year of availability, but appears to be staging a modest comeback with the release of several key first-party titles.