As we've written so many times already, Sony's dominance this generation can't be attributed solely to favourable policies or press conference clangers – it's the legwork that it's invested into Europe over the years that's doing the business. New figures coming out of Germany show that the PlayStation 4 currently commands almost 70 per cent of the market share in the key European nation, with its sales eclipsing the competition.
Borse Online reports that the Japanese giant's sold an outrageous 3.2 million units in the country since launch, with the Wii U and Xbox One fighting for second place with just 750,000 and 710,000 units respectively. This year alone, the PS4 has outsold Microsoft's console 4:1 – and that's despite Germans pointing out how heavily the Redmond firm's discounted its hardware in the country. It's a similar story across much of continental Europe, too.
Of course, the real worry for Sony's competitors will be whether it can nail next month's PS4 Neo reveal, because if it does, its numbers are only going to grow at an astronomical rate. The company's forecast that it will sell 20 million consoles during its current fiscal year, so it clearly has high hopes for the new hardware. And with both the NX and the Scorpio still at least six months to a year away, it may have the market all to itself.
[source boerse-online.de]
Comments 6
Hmm that is odd because Microsoft said the other day that the Xbox ONE S sold out completely in Germany(& UK) and 'made out' it was the best selling Console in those 2 countries. But of course Microsoft didn't tell anyone they only shipped a few K to each country(15K to the UK I saw somewhere) Aww, they do try hard to pull the wool over peoples faces Microsoft do Anyway well done SONY but I hope the next Nintendo Console does well because we need at least 2 Console makers Consoles to do well each Gen to keep each other on their toes.
Its obvious that MS's E3 2013 had an impact initially but as someone with both consoles, its very unlikely that is to blame for the sales figures these days. By the time the XB1 launched, most of the biggest issues were removed and within 8 months, you could buy an XB1 without Kinect - removing the other outstanding issue. Therefore policies and clangers cannot be held responsible for MS's lack of competition - or to put it another way, Sony's dominance. MS haven't exactly 'failed' with subsequent E3's either and have continued to improve the XB1 experience (within the boundaries of its capability) and increase its games library - not only with new releases but also Backwards Compatibility.
We know that 'power' doesn't necessarily mean success BUT if you have 2 similar consoles, similar access to the new releases, gamers will inevitably pick the one that delivers the 'best' experience. If Frame Rates are identical, then resolution matters. Sony learned from their 'mistakes' of the past too - making a console that developers can get to grips with easily. A familiar CPU with 'fluid' RAM (as opposed to the custom CPU and split RAM of the PS3) that in essence mirrors the architecture of PC's. Therefore porting games to it was easier.
At the end of the day, the majority buy a console for gaming - that's their priority. Gamers want the 'best; gaming experience that a console can deliver (not everyone wants PC gaming and what goes along with that). The PS4 currently delivers on that. Its probably a big reason it continues to sell well.
I was a X360 owner last gen and I had the choice to choose between the two consoles. I personally believe that it comes down to Sony winning the marketing war. They defined the product simply as a gaming machine and followed that through launch and into the tentative first few years. They also did better at showcasing games, both exclusives and cross plat.
I also think that offering good remasters of exclusives - such as The Last of Us had made people feel they would like to try games they may have missed out on.
@JoeBlogs I know the XB1 isn't exactly a looker but its not that much bigger than the PS4 overall. Granted it also has the 'power brick' outside but overall its not that dissimilar in size. I think the sloping look of the PS4 helps make it look slimmer - personally I don't like the sloping look myself. The XB1 though does run cooler and quieter than the PS4 too. I have both my consoles on the same shelf and neither really take up that much room. My old Sky+HD box is a similar size to the XB1 but my Home Theatre system is actually bigger. I actually liked the styling of the Original Xbox with the big X though. I quite liked the 'phat' original PS3 - again bigger than the XB1. When sat on a shelf unit with other AV equipment, the size of these consoles doesn't seem that excessive. I have never bought a console on the way it looks anyway - look at the gamecube for ugly! I buy a console for the way it plays games and the exclusive games it has. I don't care what the Neo will look like but will end up buying one (Please don't be White) because of how it will play games. Its likely to be my multi-platform console of choice for at least the next year - depending on what Scorpio delivers again couldn't care less what it looks like - just not White!!
PS4 is the obvious choice. It has the most games and the most interesting games. Nintendo and MS messed up bad.
@Utena-mobile
The American market is very fickle, MS can easily turn things around with the Scorpio but you're right the messaging has to be much better than it was with the initial Xbox One reveal. Not really sure there's much MS can do about Europe though.
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