As time is rolling on and the store shelves are already full of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the continuous release of sales figures is becoming more and more revealing on a regular basis. Thanks to the superior hardware possessed by the PlayStation 4 and Microsoft’s draconian always-online policies for the Xbox One. They were quickly reformed. We were aware that it would be Sony’s console that would eventually end up taking the lead in sales. However, the sales figures from January show that the lead was much bigger than what had been anticipated. This is even before the release of the PlayStation 4 in its home country of Japan.
The Release of XBox One and PlayStation 4
Both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 got their releases in November. The PlayStation 4 was released a week ahead of its rival in the States and the Xbox One, being two weeks ahead of Sony’s console in the UK. At the end of 2013, the total number of units that were sold by the PlayStation 4 was about 4.2 million. This, in comparison to the Xbox One, was 1.2 million units higher. At the end of the console cycle, if only 1.2 million units had been sold by the PlayStation 4 then this lead would gladly be accepted by Microsoft because in real terms it would only mean that they are tied.
However, the sales of 2013 only had a shelf time of only one and a half months. The figures would have been something similar because of limited stock and the rush of early adopters. Now the rush is over and it has become easy to find both of these consoles. The sales figures for January are more telling in regard to the popularity of the consoles. The lead of Sony’s console wasn’t actually a fluke and in the first month of 2014, the PlayStation 4 had managed to double the sales of the Xbox One.
What Guy Longworth Says
Although exact figures are not available, a little talk with Guy Longworth, the PlayStation senior vice president revealed that Sony had taken up the number 1 spot in sales of the next generation consoles. The report was also confirmed by the marketing vice president of PlayStation, John Koller. Although no names were taken, it is obvious that the sales figures were with respect to the Xbox One. Xbox is the only other next-generation console as the troubles of Nintendo’s Wii U have already been well-documented.
The new figure of nearly double sales is a much better ratio as compared to the 4.2 million to 3 million figures. Without any hard numbers, technically the lead could be just 1000 units or 500 units. But according to Sony, they have managed to sell every single PS4 that was placed on the US shelves. This means that the number is more likely to be large and impressive. During the crucial holiday month of December, the Xbox One managed to perform well. But this was most likely because of the stock issues concerning PS4.
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