Xbox One Reaches 10 Million Shipped, PS4 Sales Eclipsed Following Price Drop In North America
The Xbox One has sold well enough compared to the Xbox 360, but the astounding sales of the PlayStation 4 have allowed Sony’s console to gain the upper hand early in this new generation. Microsoft announced Wednesday that sales of its console have picked up significantly since the price drop earlier in November and the 10 million shipped milestone is within reach.
Microsoft Vice President Yusef Medhi revealed that the PlayStation 4’s reign as the top-selling console in North America might be coming to an end in an Xbox Wire update. The executive praised the release of Halo: The Master Chief Collection and new console bundles featuring Sunset Overdrive and Assassin’s Creed Unity before revealing the effect that all of this plus the recent price drop has had on sales.
“The response to this wave of blockbuster game releases and new bundles has been amazing, and sales have skyrocketed since the new price took effect on Nov. 2,” Medhi wrote. “Compared to the previous week, Xbox One sales in the US have more than tripled, which is exciting as more and more friends will be playing together this holiday. As we head into the busy holiday season, Xbox One led generation 8 console sales in the US for the past two weeks.”
He also said, “Shortly, we will have sold in to retailer more than 10 million Xbox One consoles.”
Xbox One sales more than triple in the US, approaching 10 million http://t.co/bLcqQ4mG5w
— Larry Hryb (@majornelson) November 12, 2014
By comparison, Sony revealed that the PlayStation 4 has sold through 13.5 million consoles to consumers (versus retailers) during a financial earnings call at the end of October. It achieved the 10 million mark in August of this year. The PS4 still has a significant lead over the Xbox One, but signs are pointing to Microsoft at least making this console war competitive.
Of course, there are still a couple of more weeks to go in November before Xbox One can be declared the winner. One of those weeks just happens to be the hottest sales weekend of the year, Black Friday, and the PlayStation 4 just happens to be sporting a bundle featuring GTA V and The Last of Us Remastered.
Sales trends from the last few monthly NPD sales reports show that a significant portion of active Xbox 360 owners are still sitting on the sidelines waiting to upgrade. The last-gen console is usually in the top two or three for multi-platform game releases. This indicates a critical sales period for the Xbox One this holiday and why Microsoft is pushing bundles and discounts so hard. It can’t afford to lose existing Xbox 360 owners to Sony’s PlayStation 4.
What do you think of the Microsoft’s push with the Xbox One this holiday shopping season? Sound off in the comments below.
[Images via Xbox]
