Apple (AAPL) Takes On Sony (SNE) And Nintendo In Games

Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone does everything. It is a phone, a multimedia player, a web browser, and a washing machine.

Now, Apple wants the iPhone to be a gaming platform and it is going to take on the remarkably successful Nintendo DS and Sony (SNE) Playstation Portable, which currently rule the mobile video game market.

According to The Wall Street Journal, "Developers are being lured by Apple’s online method for delivering games, which has lowered distribution costs and made it possible to profit on games that sell for just a few dollars or are given away with advertising."

Just because there are games available does not mean that consumers will play them on an iPhone. The Sony and Nintendo products have been in the markets for years.

Betting against Apple as it moves into a highly competitive market is easy. Gaming would be considered remarkably crowded with Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft (MSFT) all in the mix and billions of dollars of sales in play.

But, most experts thought that the Mac would hit a ceiling because PCs ran the ubiquitous Windows OS and that the iPhone would never get much share because of the RIM (RIMM) Blackberry and dozens of smartphones from industry leaders Nokia (NOK), Samsung, and Sony Ericsson.

Those predictions did not work out.

Douglas A. McIntyre