PlayStation 4 dominates Xbox One in January with 'nearly double' the US sales

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

PlayStation 4 dominates Xbox One in January with 'nearly double' the US sales

 

By Sam Byford on

February 13, 2014 07:07 pm

 

 

The PlayStation 4 outsold the Xbox One in the US last month, according to retail sales data tracked by NPD. Sony says that the PS4 was the top-selling console for January and remains in first place worldwide, but hasn't yet released the actual number of moved units. Journalist Geoff Keighley, who spoke to PlayStation SVP Guy Longworth, reports that Sony sold nearly twice as many PS4s as its "nearest next-gen competitor," assumed to be the Xbox One.

 

per @LuckyLongworth: PS4 was #1 in sales for next gen consoles in January, nearly doubling the nearest next gen competitor.

? Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) February 13, 2014

 

Microsoft isn't revealing its hardware numbers for the month, instead choosing to focus on its software performance. With 2.7 million games, the company captured 47 percent of marketshare at retail in the US ? though it wouldn't divulge the breakdown between Xbox One and Xbox 360 titles. Keighley notes that Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition sold twice as many copies on PlayStation 4, according to Sony. NPD software data is less reliable than hardware, however, as it doesn't include digital sales.

 

January is a notable point of comparison because it marks the first non-holiday shopping month where both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 were on sale for the same amount of time. Last month the Xbox One took top spot with an impressive 908,000 systems sold in the US. Given that the PS4 has suffered issues with supply constraint while the Xbox One is now easy enough to find at retail, it seems the $100 price difference between the two is starting to have an effect.

 

Both manufacturers can expect sales bumps in the coming months ? next week sees the PlayStation 4's release in Sony's home market of Japan, and the hotly anticipated Titanfall comes to Xbox One on March 11th.

 

http://www.theverge.com/2014/2/13/5409740/january-2014-npd-sales-ps4-xbox-one

https://twitter.com/geoffkeighley/status/434102813178597376

[vcfan]

Given that the PS4 has suffered issues with supply constraint while the Xbox One is now easy enough to find at retail, it seems the $100 price difference between the two is starting to have an effect.

disagree. i don't think you can conclude something like that going from dec to jan. the gap is only around 100k. since the ps4 was more supply constraint in dec, would be buyers had to wait for jan to get their console. we don't know what the gap was in December either. sony didn't release their figures. total sales are really close though.

[compl3x]

disagree. 

 

Shocker.

 

 

 

Will be interesting to see how the PS4 does in Japan.

[macrosslover]

Shocker.

 

 

 

Will be interesting to see how the PS4 does in Japan.

I think it will do as good as the PS3..long term.  They'll have a great launch and push them deeper into #1 worldwide, however long-term I don't see Japan making a huge difference.  I think Sony accepted this generation, hence them launching in America and Europe first, that Japan isn't a good market for home consoles anymore and there success with the PS4 will be off the back of America and Europe.

[trooper11]

Good for Sony.

Price could very well be the deciding factor. I do wonder what the actual numbers were though. Are we talking 100k vs 200k or 300k vs 600k? I would guess the numbers for both are rather low considering the lack of new releases in January. Infamous and Titanfall should be good indicators of how many people were waiting for another AAA release before buying a new console.

[Brendeth]

On topic: Congrats to Sony on this! I don't see the PS4 release in Japan being anything special, there just isn't a reason to move to the new console when they are supporting the hell out of the PS3 still. All those JPRGS this year will keep the PS3 selling like hotcakes IMO.
 

[gohpep]

Maybe their nearest next-gen competitor is the Wii U, because the Xbox One is so far ahead :)

 

(playing games, don't get angry, this is not bait, don't take it as bait)

[Brendeth]

yeah he probably was joking but Japan is a huge market for sony.. most consoles sold in japan is PS3 compared to xbox and that was the same when it was released and PS2 was around

 

you really dont know about japan, they are game freaks. PS4 is going to sell a lot

 

It is a Sony market for sure but they need those killer Japanese games to really sell it, as the PS3 still has a great lineup this year and it's full of Japanese titles.

[trooper11]

yeah he probably was joking but Japan is a huge market for sony.. most consoles sold in japan is PS3 compared to xbox and that was the same when it was released and PS2 was around

 

you really dont know about japan, they are game freaks. PS4 is going to sell a lot

not really joking. its like a snowball effect. the longer these differences exist, the quicker the platform falls off the map.

[GotBored]

disagree. i don't think you can conclude something like that going from dec to jan. the gap is only around 100k. since the ps4 was more supply constraint in dec, would be buyers had to wait for jan to get their console. we don't know what the gap was in December either. sony didn't release their figures. total sales are really close though.

 

PS4 has had supply constraint since it was released, it still does. Total global sales aren't close either Xbox One has sold over 3 Million Units while the PS4 has sold over 5 Million Units.

 

I think it will do as good as the PS3..long term.  They'll have a great launch and push them deeper into #1 worldwide, however long-term I don't see Japan making a huge difference.  I think Sony accepted this generation, hence them launching in America and Europe first, that Japan isn't a good market for home consoles anymore and there success with the PS4 will be off the back of America and Europe.

 

I think the PS4 will do fair bit better than the PS3 and also Japan is a huge market for Sony. Almost 10 million PS3's were sold in Japan alone.

[trooper11]

PS4 has had supply constraint since it was released, it still does. Total global sales aren't close either Xbox One has sold over 3 Million Units while the PS4 has sold over 5 Million Units.

Its going to easily push past a 2:1 ratio worldwide, probably just as Infamous is released.

Japan is an unknown, but it could result in an even larger spike.

[HawkMan]

not really joking. its like a snowball effect. the longer these differences exist, the quicker the platform falls off the map.

 

Funny and historically inaccurate. you only need to look at last gen for that. 

 

also... We're nto releasing any numbers, but it sold "nearly" double.... umm ok... and MS had nearly half of the software sales market. but sony, without numbers, sold "nearly" twice as many of one game... ok...

 

Both platforms are selling well anyway. and you can't buy either here yet, as MS hasn't launched yet(so you have to import from MS' stores, I don't believe those sales count in NPD anyway, even in the states sales from MS online store doesn't count) and sony doesn't ship any consoles to the majority of the markets they "launched" in, chosing to focus on the same markets MS actually launched in, only letting dribbles fall into the other locations, they'd probably have been better off adopting MS strategy and just not launching, even though the reason would be diferent, for MS it was localizations, for Sony should have been supply. 

[MistaT40]

I think the PS4 is just a superior machine for what I want and to me personally, pricing was not the reason why I went with it first.  I am not sure if pricing has more to do with the sales or the fact that people do not find the features of X1 worth the extra cost.

[BajiRav]

It seems both consoles didn't sell as well in Jan, which is a given. Microsoft probably sold 50 and Sony sold 80-90 consoles = zomg we sold "nearly" double.

[MikeChipshop Member]

Good stuff that both consoles are selling well. Now both companies can start really hammering out the updates and pushing this gens crop of consoles even further.

[Shiranui]

The Japanese market for the PS4 is shrinking, with the aging population and with the youngest gamers leapfrogging consoles in favor of handheld gaming. A few good RPGs should shift a few. though.

[Co-ords]

Outstanding!!

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

The Japanese market for the PS4 is shrinking, with the aging population and with the youngest gamers leapfrogging consoles in favor of handheld gaming. A few good RPGs should shift a few. though.

I believe the new Yakuza is the highest scoring yet. Fu Sega for not localising.....

Surprised to see this kind of lead in America, but I guess everything Sony have done to win the mind of the gamer was always going to pay off in the first year. Who else is going to pay the kind of money you need to just now? Mostly the hardcore.

[ditoax]

I live in the UK where Playstation is more popular but having said that I know 17 people with a PS4 and only 1 with an Xbox One! Pretty crazy.

[ctebah]

I think as the time goes on the gap will widen even more.

[Skiver Veteran]

Apologies if this has already been answered but didn't Neowin post literally a day or two ago that MS hadn't released sales stats? How has it now been possible to come to this? I skim read the article and couldnt see any sales figures on the Xbox but there was something for the PS4.

Congrats to Sony for continuing there success!

[Jarrichvdv]

I think as the time goes on the gap will widen even more.

Initially, maybe. After a long time, when a lot of exclusives start stacking up for each console people will have more incentive to buy an Xbox One.

[0nyX]

I'd be suprised if it was the other way around.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Apologies if this has already been answered but didn't Neowin post literally a day or two ago that MS hadn't released sales stats? How has it now been possible to come to this? I skim read the article and couldnt see any sales figures on the Xbox but there was something for the PS4.

Congrats to Sony for continuing there success!

The media/investors get to know who's in front, as well as NPD still get the numbers for producing their reports. Its just a case of whether or not the public get permission to see them.

[Showan]

Good job Sony and Microsoft.  You have proven that console gaming isn't dying.  Thank you for that.  

 

Sales of the PS4 have been great for Sony.  Probably easily exceeding expectations at this point in time.  Microsoft's numbers are no slouch, probably right where Microsoft was projecting them to be, or slightly ahead of that as well.

 

Sony is giving gamers a lot of horse power under the hood (as far as consoles go) at a reasonable price point.    I do wonder how Xbox sales would be if they were also at the $399 price point.  One thing I'm starting to see when walking through Best Buy and GameStop,  here where I live, staff tell me that the $100 difference is the reason that a lot of people chose PS4 mostly.  The power difference wasn't that big a issue it seems.  Even biased GameStop staff say this as well.  They say customers go with the PS4 because they can get a game with it and still be a tad bit under $500 (after taxes and all). 

 

But people have to admit, to sell 3-4 million at $500 a pop in this day in age isn't half bad...