In defense of its pending acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft has cited Sony's "remarkably steady" console market share, with Japan showing an especially brutal gap between PlayStation and Xbox.
Speaking at a press conference which GamesRadar+ attended, Microsoft vice chairman Brad Smith addressed concerns from Sony and regulators that Xbox's Activision deal is anti-competitive.
"Think about the market in Europe. It is a market where Sony has an 80% share and Xbox has a 20% share. Globally, it is about 70/30. In Japan, it is 96/4," Smith said. "These numbers have been remarkably steady for two decades. Even last year, when there were issues with Sony's supply chain, they came back strong."
"By our calculation, on a global basis, Sony outsold Microsoft in the fourth quarter by a margin of 69 to 31, [which is] pretty much consistent with the global market shares we've seen for 20 years."
"We understand in some ways it can be tempting when you have an 80% share [to hope you can] hold on as long as possible ... I don't think that's what regulators are in the business of doing," said Smith. "They're not here to protect super dominant companies."
