Xbox One finally overtakes PS4 in U.S. sales: Clever marketing or better pricing?
As we expected, Microsoft’s Xbox One outsold Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 4 in the month of November according to the NPD Group, the first time this has happened since the two consoles went on the market in 2013. Although the PS4 started off way out in front, outselling Xbox One by a wide margin, the Microsoft console has been clawing its way back month by month to finally take the lead. The lead however is only on U.S. and U.K. turf, in terms of overall worldwide sales PS4 is still ahead.
After numerous price cuts and some clever marketing strategies before and during the shopping frenzy last month, Xbox One saw its U.S. sales reach 1.2 million units, the best it’s ever done. Mike Nichols, Microsoft’s VP of Xbox Marketing, responded to the recent assault on the U.S. market in a statement to IGN saying, “We are amazed by the excitement Xbox fans have shown to start off this holiday. November set a new record for sales of Xbox One, and Xbox One was the best-selling console in the U.S. and U.K… more fans logged into Xbox Live across Xbox One and Xbox 360, and enjoyed more entertainment, than any other month in the history of Xbox.”
NPD also revealed the top selling games in November, and unsurprisingly Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare was in first place (1.360, 2.XBO, 3.PS4, 4.PS3, 5.PC), with Grand Theft Auto in second (1.PS4, 2.XBO, 3.360, 4.PS3) and Super Smash Brothers in third (1.NWU, 2.3DS).
Microsoft reported that in November Xbox One users in the U.S. had purchased more games than any other generation eight platform, adding to total global gameplay time of over 357 million hours. Nintendo on the other hand has seen great sales and greater reviews for its Super Smash Bros. which having sold 1.5 million units has been the highest selling portable game in the U.S. since its release in October. Wii U has also seen some success, with its hardware sales seeing a 10 percent increase, and software sales increasing by a massive 90 percent.
It looks like Microsoft will continue offering discount bundles up until the new year, and so far is doesn’t look like Sony or Nintendo have done enough to challenge the Xbox One, so come December it’s very likely that we’ll be hearing more jubilant comments from the Xbox marketing team.
Photo credit: newgamenetwork via photopin cc
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