Released in North America on November of 2013, Microsoft’s Xbox One console was intended to dominate the next-gen console market. Sony’s PlayStation 4 (PS4) made its North American debut in November of 2013 as well. So after one year, which console is on top?
Unfortunately for Microsoft, the PS4 is defeating the Xbox One in terms of worldwide console sales. Now, keep in mind that the battle is far from over. However, it is clear that Microsoft needs to step up their game if they ever want to dethrone the PS4.
Sony’s financial results for the September quarter revealed that 3.3 million PS4 units were sold (4.1 million PlayStation units sold — including PS2, PS3, and PS4). This figure compares to Microsoft’s figure of 2.4 million Xbox units sold (this combines Xbox One and Xbox 360). As you can see, Sony was able to achieve double the figure compared to Microsoft. The Redmond giant typically combines the Xbox 360 and Xbox One figure, but it still wasn’t good enough to beat the PS4.
Adding all the data together, since the launch of both the PS4 and Xbox One, Sony has managed to sell 19.1 overall PlayStation units, while Microsoft has managed to sell 12.9 million Xbox consoles. See the chart below, courtesy of GeekWire:
So what does Microsoft need to do in order to dethrone the PS4? Microsoft recently announced a $50 discount on the Xbox One (which includes special edition bundles), so perhaps this will affect sales as the holidays approach. Microsoft has already removed the Kinect from the Xbox One, making it an optional purchase.
Phil Spencer took charge of the Xbox and Xbox Live business back in March and the tech giant has been rolling out monthly updates to the Xbox One console, adding new features and making vast improvements. And lets not forget that the Xbox One barely made it to China, Japan, and India just last month. Perhaps the future looks promising as the Xbox One makes it to more regions.
Sound off in the comments below and tell us what you think Microsoft should do in order to make the Xbox One more desirable than the PS4.
