PS4 to dominate market by 2016 with 51 million sold - IDC

Research firm International Data Corporation (IDC) expects Sony to dominate the new console cycle with PlayStation 4 claiming the majority of the market by 2016 with 51 million units sold globally.

Xbox One is expected to rebound in North America where the firm expects it to take the lead. Microsoft, according to the firm, due to the fact it expects it to eventually pull Kinect from Xbox One bundles - despite Microsoft saying repeatedly it has no such plans.

"The presumed unbundling of Kinect and Xbox One, which should facilitate rough price parity between it and the PS4, should lead to a spike in Xbox One sales; assuming the console and sensor are unbundled in 2015, IDC expects Xbox One to recover and emerge with the largest installed base of any console in North America by the end of 2016," the firm explained in a preview of the report to GI International.

IDC expects Nintendo's Wii U to drop in price by "$50worldwide in late 2014 or early 2015," but it won't help fill the installed base between it and its compettion.

Elsewhere in the report, IDC states it expects physical game sales to decline as digital becomes the preferred form of purchasing games.