Microsoft is optimistic about its gaming console market in China.
Sony Corp and Microsoft Corporation have been keeping a close watch on the Chinese market since the country raised its ban from video gaming consoles. Both the companies were extremely spontaneous about launching their gaming consoles in the Chinese market. However, the response has been relatively disappointing so far.According to a recent report published by Niko Partners clearly highlights that Microsoft Xbox One and Sony PlayStation 4 will not be able to do quite well in China at least this year. As estimated the accumulative sales of Microsoft and Sony’s gaming console is said to be 550,000 units by the end of FY15 as estimated by the company.The company has suggested that these firms need to come up with more high budgeted and high-quality AAA games so that sales boost in the region. Currently the list of games being offered in the Chinese gaming market are extremely narrow and many big games like the Call of Duty it yet to be launched.Another reason why these gaming consoles did not do quite well is that the Chinese market has more gamers interested in PC gaming where these consoles are extremely expensive for them. Ironically, the Xbox is priced at $607 in the Chinese market which is $200 more than the US pricing.On the other hand, Phil Spencer of Microsoft is optimistic about this venture where a conference for gaming is scheduled in China for the coming month. Microsoft seeks to capitalize on the conference where they hope that they will engage more gamers. Moreover, the report also claims that the sale of smart TVs will also supersede the sales of gaming consoles FY19. The reason behind this is that smart TVs have various functionalities, they are cheaper and also have several games available on them. The founder and managing partner of Niko Partners, Ms. Lisa Cosmas Hanson mentioned, "Despite China being a predominantly PC online gaming culture, Chinese who are now 26-35 years old grew up in the days of Nintendo Super Famicom consoles and are accustomed to playing games with a controller via a TV." Moreover, these gamers will have the ability to adopt OTT games that can be played on this television along with gaming consoles which will transform the living room into an entertainment station.Hence in a nutshell, despite the criticism Microsoft is still optimistic about this venture and believes that they will soon capitalize on the Chinese market for gaming consoles.
As reported by Morgan Stanley, Apple iPhone sales likely to hit 53 million units in Q3.
Apple Inc., the tech behemoth is all set to schedule a time where they will reveal their earnings for the third trimestral when July FY15 ends. The company has been extremely successful with the rampant popularity of Apple iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. This has resulted in the tech giant to grow considerably in each trimestral. However, analyst at The Street believe that the popularity of iPhones is likely to experience a downfall since the refresh cycle issue is becoming an issue for users.
An AlphaWise survey was conducted by Morgan Staley that will help them to track the demand for iPhone for the three month tenure ending in June. According to the survey, Apple is back in the game where it might sell around 53 million iPhone units during the current trimestral. This forecast, however, remains unchanged to what they predicted in May.
Katy Huberty, an analyst at Morgan Stanley believes that the growing markets have immense potential where China is likely to drive growth for them. The Chinese market has demands that are relatively late in the production cycle. Huberty highlights that the results of AlphaWise survey seem to be on par with the supply chain checks that took place recently for Apple.
According to Jasmine Lu, the tech analyst for Morgan Stanley believes that the company will be able to sell almost 54 million units of its flagship smartphone.
Huberty further believes that if all other aspects are monitored and remain constant, the three million devices according to the survey along with the 50 million other units estimations made for the iPhone would result in an increase in revenues by $.8 billion for the company. This would actually result in an 11 percent increase considering “Morgan Stanley’s EPS estimate of $1.82.”
Apart from that, the tracker by the Morgan Stanley for Apple Watch clearky highlights that the need for Apple iPhones has now stabilized at a 20 percent higher if considering that the first iPhone took almost six weeks to its launch. According to Huberty, “"Watch interest in the week of launch was about half that for the first iPhone, but the Watch has seen a much smaller deceleration since the initial spike.”
Hence, in a nutshell, Morgan Stanley has made an estimate which will not be so difficult for Apple to achieve considering the immense popularity of their products and services with the masses. The company has established itself as a reputable brand and this will help to sale swiftly in the long run.
