Analyst: PC Sales Reflect Shift to Digital Distribution

An NPD analyst says that the $60 million drop in PC software retail revenue from 2006 to 2007 reflects the industry's movement towards digital distribution, GameDaily reports.

Analyst Anita Fraisure notes that the data, which currently does not account for digital downloads or subscriptions, is no cause for concern.

"As we've seen from a number of our studies, the PC continues to be a top platform in terms of total game playing time," said Fraisure. "I don't think this slight decline in retail sales is anything more than a reflection of a shifting of distribution channels."

The latest numbers reveal that PC sales accounted for only 14% of total revenue for game software sales in 2007. But without a comprehensive perspective of online activity, Fraisure says, the implications of the gap remain unclear.

"Video games software sales, and even just the console portion of that figure have been greater than PC retail sales every year that we've tracked. Yes, the (console and portable) video games retail sales have really exploded, but again, until we can get a measurement of dollars spent online, we won't have the true picture."