The study by Jon Peddie Research "took almost five years to bring it to life" and combines "bottom-up" GPU and PC shipment forecasts with macro-economic "top-down" forecasts for 36 countries.

According to JPR, the total PC games hardware market should drop $1.4 billion this year, down 7 points from $20.07 billion in 2008 to $18.65 billion in 2009. JPR says that the recession has caused a slump in sales, but lower prices on PCs and components due to the increasingly competitive economic climate, are also to blame. Despite that, the report concludes, "PC gaming systems seem to have suffered the least discounting which illustrates the value consumers place on such systems."

The most shocking detail is that the nearly $19 billion in PC games hardware sales will "eclipse" the hardware market for all gaming consoles combined by some $2 billion. Note that JPR takes into account "the console, a certain amount of accessories, and a factor for the cost of an HDTV to display the games on.”

PC gaming hardware includes the PC, a percentage for the monitor (because some people will already have one), a percentage of accessories like driving wheels and special mice/joysticks, as well as aftermarket and DIY parts and systems.

Here's JPR's PC Gaming Hardware Market forecast (in billions) through 2012.

2008 - $20,076
2009 - $18,658
2010 - $23,937
2011 - $28,907
2012 - $30,672

JPR thinks the reason the PC games market dropped less than its peers is that PC gaming is simply sounder economics. Says JPR: "Purchases of a PC for gaming can be shared since the machine can be used for watching (and creating) videos, as well as office work and web browsing, something consoles can't offer."