The release of next-generation consoles from Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo will propel the U.S. market for video game consoles from $8.7 billion in 2004 to $11.7 billion in 2010, according to a report from Jupiter Research. The nearly $4 billion in revenue growth is projected despite an anticipated overall slowing of audience growth for game consoles: the firm predicts 2 percent annualized growth in the installed base for upcoming consoles, compared with the 8 percent annualized growth in installed base experienced by the current generation of consoles. Jupiter also predicted that Microsoft would reap only modest benefits should it launch its Xbox 360 this fall, ahead of its competitors, in contrast to the impressive head start that Sony got with its first-to-market launch of the PlayStation 2. "The market is going to be more evenly split this round -- regardless of when the players launch," said Jupiter senior analyst Jay Horwitz.
The global cloud computing market is undergoing new significant growth, driven by the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and the demand for flexible, scalable infrastructure. The recent market study by International Data Corporation (IDC) provides compelling evidence of this transformation, highlighting the accelerating growth in cloud infrastructure spending and the pivotal role of AI in shaping the industry's future trajectory. Shared Infrastructure Market Development The study reveals a 36.9 percent year-over-year worldwide increase in spending on compute and storage infrastructure products for cloud deployments in the first quarter of 2024, reaching $33 billion. This growth substantially outpaced non-cloud infrastructure spending, which saw a modest 5.7 percent increase to $13.9 billion during the same period. The surge in cloud infrastructure spending was partially fueled by an 11.4 percent growth in unit demand, influenced by higher average selling prices, primari