Microsoft's Xbox One Sold Just 1.2M Units To Retailers In Q3, Dips Below Xbox 360 Rate


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Microsoft's Xbox One Sold Just 1.2M Units To Retailers In Q3, Dips Below Xbox 360 Rate.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2014/04/25/microsofts-xbox-one-sold-just-1-2m-units-to-retailers-in-q3-dips-below-xbox-360-rate/

 

Microsoft?s sell-through to consumer rate as of January 1st was 3/3.9M, so about 77%. Assuming that rate is still about the same (it could have gone down because of being post-Christmas, or up because of Titanfall), that means about 3.85M Xbox Ones have been sold to date, with about 924K sold in the last quarter. In that case, in Q3 Sony?s system sold three times as much as the Xbox One to consumers. It?s entirely possible that Sony sold more PS4s in one month than Microsoft did in the whole quarter.

 

*Above quote is based on 5 Million Xbox Ones sold to retailers announcement from Microsoft*

 

The common refrain heard at this point in the analysis is that at least Microsoft is dramatically outpacing the Xbox 360 at its launch. Even if they?re behind Sony, the console market has expanded so much that the system is a hit regardless.
 
That?s true, to a point. The Xbox One is outselling the Xbox 360 right now, with 5 million shipped compared to 3.2 million shipped over the same period for each console. But that said, this new 1.2M Q3 number now actually puts the Xbox One below the pace of the 360, at least for the quarter. The 360 sold 1.7M units to retailers in Q3 after launch in 2006, while the Xbox One is rather far behind at 1.2M. The One is still ahead overall, but that could change in time if a disparity like this continues to exist, or worse, grows.

 

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Well now that the X1 has fallen behind the 360, time for a serious reaction.

The bad news just keeps rolling on.

Yes, it's so terrible :rolleyes:

Or maybe perhaps there was just more demand for 360s in Q3 because you couldn't find them immediately after launch, unlike the Xbox One. Do you seriously buy into this drivel? Hell, the top quote is based on an assumption known to be false, yet they still used it. Even at the low end, we're looking at 4.2 million sold through, not 3.85, and that's just doing the simple math of 3+1.2.

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I know numbers matter to an extent.  The more people that have the console, the more content gets made for it.

 

But lets be honest, all these news sites are gonna take what they want from the announcements and spin it to the way they want and publish it.  Remember for sites like, Forbes, N4G, Gaf, etc,  CLICKS = $$$

 

 

I've seen this scenario before.... At my age, I've seen it a lot.  It's all Cyclical.

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It's useless to compare these 2 launches as there was virtually no competiton against Xbox 360 at launch, many people did not want to wait for a whole year for PS3 so they jumped ship and bought Xbox 360 instead.

 

Now with such a strong contender (the ps4) and extremely negative bias in the media, it is amazing to see how well Xbox One is selling regardless! In fewer markets and at a great disadvantage because of the higher price.

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I know numbers matter to an extent.  The more people that have the console, the more content gets made for it.

 

But lets be honest, all these news sites are gonna take what they want from the announcements and spin it to the way they want and publish it.  Remember for sites like, Forbes, N4G, Gaf, etc,  CLICKS = $$$

 

 

I've seen this scenario before.... At my age, I've seen it a lot.  It's all Cyclical.

 

Gaf doesn't publish news :laugh: And N4G is an aggregate site, they don't publish news either AFAIK.

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the 360 was also globally available at that point I believe.

Well that would make some difference, but a lot of people downplay that as having any impact.

 

 

Gaf doesn't publish news :laugh: And N4G is an aggregate site, they don't publish news either AFAIK.

That's funny, because people post stuff from Gaf all the time as if it is a news site. So maybe its not officially a news site, it gets treated like one.

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I know numbers matter to an extent.  The more people that have the console, the more content gets made for it.

 

But lets be honest, all these news sites are gonna take what they want from the announcements and spin it to the way they want and publish it.  Remember for sites like, Forbes, N4G, Gaf, etc,  CLICKS = $$$

 

 

I've seen this scenario before.... At my age, I've seen it a lot.  It's all Cyclical.

 

Forbes has no advertisements on its site, so Forbes can't make money creating click-bait. Forbes is a big magazine firm which reports on business news and financial information.

 

I'm actually surprised you haven't heard of them and considered them a click-bait type company.

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That's funny, because people post stuff from Gaf all the time as if it is a news site. So maybe its not officially a news site, it gets treated like one.

 

Then you're reading it wrong :P

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Yes, it's so terrible :rolleyes:

Or maybe perhaps there was just more demand for 360s in Q3 because you couldn't find them immediately after launch, unlike the Xbox One. Do you seriously buy into this drivel? Hell, the top quote is based on an assumption known to be false, yet they still used it. Even at the low end, we're looking at 4.2 million sold through, not 3.85, and that's just doing the simple math of 3+1.2.

I'm not sure how else to take this news. I would love to be positive about the whole thing, but how can you do that when the constant drum beat is negative?

I'm certainly open to reasons that this time around could be different and so the numbers aren't so bad, but how in the world can you get past the collective negative spin that you see now?

People in this very forum have mentioned that even if the X1 is outselling the 360, the news is not good because of how far behind it is compared to the ps4. Now if the idea is that the X1 is no longer outselling the 360, those points become even more powerful.

Then you're reading it wrong :p

You mean they are reading it wrong :p

The people that post topics referring to 'news' from Gaf seem to treat the site differently then say you would.

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People in this very forum have mentioned that even if the X1 is outselling the 360, the news is not good because of how far behind it is compared to the ps4. Now if the idea is that the X1 is no longer outselling the 360, those points become even more powerful.

 

Hope you're not including me in that "people" group, because you have misunderstood/read my posts ;)

 

 

You mean they are reading it wrong :p

The people that post topics referring to 'news' from Gaf seem to treat the site differently then say you would.

 

The only time it can be considered news is when a developer makes a post there, seeing as many of them are members. Other times it is when an ordinary member finds something and it becomes a rumour/leak. Otherwise, it's not different to Neowin forums.

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Not surprising.  Using an X1 currently is like downgrading from the 360.  Why I kept my 360.

I think this and the fact that there have been continued price cuts from the retail end of things, that it would lead consumers to maybe hold off until there are more games, patching, and maybe a price drop.

 

I feel the limited release is really hurting them though; the new Kinect is cool and all, but is it really worth shooting yourself in the foot over? That's my only question really, considering speech recognition I mean.

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All I see is assumptions and funky math guessing.    But heck, a day can't go by if there isn't at least one semi-negative or negative Xbox thread started.

 

Situations have changed but lets make this as doom and gloom as we can, even though it means little actually.   The fact is, the XB1 saw a very large initial surge in sales during the holiday period, way more than the 360 did, add to the fact that it costs more to start and that the post holiday dip happens regardless (it effects everything on the market), then there's also the competition factor that the 360 didn't have.    So hey, it was lower, overall it's doing better, and to MS, they still sell the 360 anyways, 800k for the quarter this late in it's life has to be mostly profit for them.

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I think this and the fact that there have been continued price cuts from the retail end of things, that it would lead consumers to maybe hold off until there are more games, patching, and maybe a price drop.

 

I feel the limited release is really hurting them though; the new Kinect is cool and all, but is it really worth shooting yourself in the foot over? That's my only question really, considering speech recognition I mean.

It all comes back to Kinect doesn't it?

I think MS might be getting close to one of those lose-lose situations.

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Well that would make some difference, but a lot of people downplay that as having any impact.

 

 

It's also the one year headstart as someone mentioned. 

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You mean they are reading it wrong :p

The people that post topics referring to 'news' from Gaf seem to treat the site differently then say you would.

 

The only reason I could see someone using GAF as a news source is if GAF added separate sources together into a re-post of that news. The news source is still external.

 

 

All I see is assumptions and funky math guessing.    But heck, a day can't go by if there isn't at least one semi-negative or negative Xbox thread started.

 

Situations have changed but lets make this as doom and gloom as we can, even though it means little actually.   The fact is, the XB1 saw a very large initial surge in sales during the holiday period, way more than the 360 did, add to the fact that it costs more to start and that the post holiday dip happens regardless (it effects everything on the market), then there's also the competition factor that the 360 didn't have.    So hey, it was lower, overall it's doing better, and to MS, they still sell the 360 anyways, 800k for the quarter this late in it's life has to be mostly profit for them.

 

Its just sales numbers, so are you saying sales data on the Xbox One is a negative thread for Xbox?

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Its just sales numbers, so are you saying sales data on the Xbox One is a negative thread for Xbox?

 

With the way it's being portrayed, worded, and so on, it does sound negative.  How could it not?   Look here, XB1 quarter sales are lower than the 360s for it's same quarter 7 years ago!  This is bad news, the sky is falling!  The whole context of the post from Forbes is looking to/trying to paint this as a negative.  

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I'm not sure how else to take this news. I would love to be positive about the whole thing, but how can you do that when the constant drum beat is negative?

Because the drum beat is all opinion in the face of cold hard numbers that point largely towards success. Not hard to ignore it really if you take a second to take a step back and look at the big picture. So I dunno, think for yourself and don't let stupid (not to mention inaccurate) articles like this one tread all over you? If you can't be positive when they've sold 5 million in 5 months, most of which are likely in consumers hands, then that's your problem I guess. Just because they aren't doing as well as their competition doesn't mean doom and gloom unless you ignore reality.

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With the way it's being portrayed, worded, and so on, it does sound negative.  How could it not?   Look here, XB1 quarter sales are lower than the 360s for it's same quarter 7 years ago!  This is bad news, the sky is falling!  The whole context of the post from Forbes is looking to/trying to paint this as a negative.  

 

What does Forbes have to gain from portraying the Xbox One negatively? Forbes does business and financial news and all they are doing is comparing sales number of the Xbox (One) with the previous-gen Xbox (360). 

 

 

Because the drum beat is all opinion in the face of cold hard numbers that point largely towards success. Not hard to ignore it really if you take a second to take a step back and look at the big picture. So I dunno, think for yourself and don't let stupid (not to mention inaccurate) articles like this one tread all over you? If you can't be positive when they've sold 5 million in 5 months, most of which are likely in consumers hands, then that's your problem I guess. Just because they aren't doing as well as their competition doesn't mean doom and gloom unless you ignore reality.

 

The 5 million mark was announced in the 6th Month and I'd believe a Forbes article over a random forum poster any day of the week. Most reliable news articles from places like Forbes check their sources and do a lot of research into the subject before publishing articles. While forum posters may be biased towards a console and give false information like 'Believe me, not a well-respected magazine firm', do very little research or source checking (if any at all) and are adamant that unbiased basic sales data comparison is negative towards their console of choice and that the publisher of the news article is therefore unreliable/inaccurate/stupid/biased/fanboy/etc. 

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If you can't be positive when they've sold 5 million in 5 months, most of which are likely in consumers hands, then that's your problem I guess. Just because they aren't doing as well as their competition doesn't mean doom and gloom unless you ignore reality.

I guess at the end of the day, what is important is strong momentum going forward. Your right, selling 5 million in 5 months is not bad, its just not as high as the competition. For MS, I really doubt they are panicking based on those numbers because they do not play the same game that we as users do. Sony and MS are not reactionary based on articles on the internet. If MS sees an issue with sales that they cannot justify, then they will choose to do something about it.

Its just the online community that plays the game of taking every article and reacting to it.

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What does Forbes have to gain from portraying the Xbox One negatively? Forbes does business and financial news and all they are doing is comparing sales number of the Xbox (One) with the previous-gen Xbox (360).

I'm not sure why you insist on arguing on behalf of Forbes. Its not like any of us know the intentions of the author. Behind the numbers themselves, the rest of the article can be interpreted differently by different people.

The numbers are there for anyone to see and can verify themselves. The discussion part would come from talking about why the numbers are they way they are or what it means for the product.

Even if the author did have a negative slant on the issue, you can still pick out the numbers and use those after they are confirmed correct.

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Just FYI, Gamasutra has posted similar news today and they are about as far as you can get from clickbait. Attacking Forbes or sticking up for them is irrelevant, these types of stories have and always will be, especially in the gaming world. News surrounding the Wii U has been nothing but "doom and gloom" since early 2013 to the point they're nicknamed "Nintendoom" by many. The PS3 launch years are almost an exact mirror copy of the X1's public image and momentum also.

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