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Ex-Sony boss: Apple to dominate gaming

Could pip console rivals in future.

Dark blue icons of video game controllers on a light blue background
Image credit: Eurogamer

Apple "will be the games industry" in ten years, ex-Sony boss Phil Harrison believes.

The iPhone and iPad manufacturer, if left unchecked, will rule the gaming space in a decade, Harrison told Edge.

"At this trajectory, if you extrapolate the market-share gains that they are making, forward for ten years... there's a pretty good chance that Apple will be the games industry."

Harrison's reasoning? The speed with which Apple hardware is being swiped off of shop shelves, and the growth of iOS as a viable gaming platform.

"In the proliferation of devices - you've got iPhones, iPads, iPods, which are all part of the same ecosystem; the speed at which Apple sold 15 million iPads is phenomenal," he said. "And the number one activity on an iPad, according to some reports, is games, and I think that will only continue."

Harrison also praised the ease of purchasing content on Apple devices, making acquiring games easy for the consumer. "You see something on the App Store, you click a button, the product delivers to your device. That end-to-end shopping experience, if you want to call it that, has been so elegantly built by Apple and they will continue to refine it."

Harrison was a pivotal figure within Sony, helping to launch the original PlayStation in 1996. He ascended to president of Sony Computer Entertainment's Worldwide Studios, before quitting the company in February 2008.

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