Sony's dominating this generation globally, but it's just starting to receive a few reminders that it can't sit twiddling its thumbs in the UK and the USA, where Microsoft is staging a bit of an onslaught right now. To be fair, the company's position is not in jeopardy, but MCV reports that the PS4 controlled just 19 per cent of the market share in Britain for the week ending 24th September, while the Xbox One S enjoyed 71 per cent.
Context is important here: Microsoft introduced a FIFA 17 bundle early at a distinctly low price, and there were even some retailer offers which allowed people to obtain it cheaper. However, the Japanese giant may be concerned by the fact that it's down 66 per cent year-over-year for the same period, despite the introduction of the PS4 Slim and the impending arrival of PlayStation VR. This all perhaps puts a little extra pressure on the PS4 Pro to perform.
To be fair to the platform holder, it's not simply sitting around twiddling its thumbs. Today's roster of ridiculous £150 bundles will likely see Sony's system take total charge again, though it has endured a little stretch over the past few months where the news cycle hasn't been particularly kind to the brand. It's a wake-up call, then, but it's got so much ready to drop over the next couple of months that we can't see these trends maintaining for too long.
[source mcvuk.com]
Comments 39
I'm no help yet, I've preordered my ps4 pro, and trading in my launch date console that won't register a sale for Sony.
Its because of pro and vr. Pro is not so much more expensive. I think theres no point in buying slim except you are very very very tight on budget
Im very curious when in December we have numbers of slim, vr and pro.
Microsoft customers dont have choice what to buy. Theres simply only Xbox one s. PS customers choose between slim, pro or vr (if they have already ps4).
What Im surprised about is that Sony doesnt push some price wise packs of vr (ps4pro, camera, moves, vr and vr worlds pack cost simply like sum of all components) - if they promote pro + vr for 20% lower price, that would be really big deal for newcomers!
People are waiting for the Pro and VR so no surprise, I haven't even seen a Slim anywhere.
@fybyfyby only problem I can see with bundling everything together is how that cost is perceived by consumers. £350 Pro, £350 PSVR, £70 Move controller, £50 PsCamera...that bundle is going to be £700+ and maybe they don't want a product on the market for that much
I'm a bit disgusted by the name Pro, and offended that my once state of the art Ps4 is now labeled an amateurish console.
I buy a console to have the best experience possible.
They won the fight against Microsoft because they had the most powerful console and a simple message. Now they introduce a new console more powerful than their previous model, p*ssing off existing users that will have sub-par framerates and experiences in the long run, and are even surprised if they don't sell the slim/old/weak model?
They shot themselves in the foot in my opinion.
@Jackrov This is a ridiculous post. Your existing PS4 is going to do everything it was always going to do, there's just going to be another option out there that offers an even better experience.
You need to get over it.
As @PlaytendoGuy said, all eyes are on the Pro and VR. Sales talk will probably light up once those are out, while the Slim is more or less a slightly improved base model.
@mrobinson91 But the packs are already presented at retail. So its only about have benefit of buying whole back different than fewer clicks when buying
Look here:
https://www.alza.co.uk/sony-playstation-4-1tb-pro-playstation-vr-kit-d4474787.htm?catid=18856943
@Jackrov Time has come. This gen gets old faster more then previous. Its hard time for both Sony and Microsoft to carefuly market new devices and not p*ss off loyal customers. There are many arguments why customers cant be p*ssed off. But there is also one, when they can be. Its about premium products. Like you wrote. You bought ps4 and you knew you have best hardware from sony. Now you know you havent.
Its only psychological thing and doesnt really have impact on quality of games on your ps4.
But in the end Im glad sony made pro because microsoft is making scorpio, so there will be adequate competition on both sides.
Language - get2sammyb
It's obvious everyone is waiting for the PS4 PRO, only a 100 pound more and upscaled 4K and better fps on some games. Why would people want the slim it offers nothing.
The slim isn't a real upgrade and I really can't see who it's for. Clearly it's supposed to be for casual gamers, but at the price it's currently at I don't think it's a good proposition. It should've been priced $250 to really get the families, "Blu Ray & Netflixers" and CoD & FIFA/ Madden dads on board.
The One S is exactly how a Slim model is done; it's sexy as Barker and features an awesome gimmick with its 4K Blu Ray player. It offers a lot of bang for your buck, especially the FIFA/ Madden bundles that are going for $269, and it feels like a console that'll last you a couple of years because it's future- proof.
The Pro is priced very competitively though and Sony has put MS in a tight spot: offering a slightly better experience for $100+ more simply won't go down with most consumers and leaving an UHD Blu Ray player to shave off some of the price can't be seriously considered because the One S has one. So MS will have to take a huge loss on every unit sold not to have an even more disastrous package as the One with the Kinect was.
The prices for the older PS4 models are completely insane btw! I ordered a couple at Argos to send back home for just £150 with Lego Star Wars, the SW force awakens blu Ray AND FIFA 17! FIFA is more catwalk simulator than it is a football game, so I'll sell the copies for bout £30 each and within a month the entire Western Cape can throw away their PS2s (really) and PS3s to play Lego SW on their £120 PS4!
(The PS 2.0 Headsets with the virtual 7.1 DS are also priced really nice on Amazon btw at just £49)
I think the Pro might see an upswing but there really is no competition to MS right now. The S is a nice looking machine with upgrades from the Xbone launch machine and some serious marketing/deals in place on popular games.
The Slim is literally just the PS4 so not surprised nothing is really happening there. PSVR is only going to be hardcore gamers that venture into that territory at the launch price. As said, I think the Pro will rectify that at year end, then they have until the Scorpio comes out to mop up.
The only thing the slim is doing is bringing the fat down in price.
The slim is for your niche market.
So good news all round for us lot it means more machines being sold more games being made....................then we have the Pro.
The ps4 slim is too expensive and ps4 pro have better value, so maybe many people wait for ps4 pro instead.
@Boerewors Well, the Slim is for people who want a PS4 as it'll become the standard model over the next few weeks.
pre ordered a pro so no interest in the slim!
@fybyfyby
"But in the end Im glad sony made pro because microsoft is making scorpio, so there will be adequate competition on both sides."
I'm a true Sony fanboy but I'm starting to have doubts. I have a 4k UHD TV so yes I care about my console pushing everything it can... including a darn UHD disk player.
989% week-on-week sales increase! As Sammy says context is important here as this type of jump is related to a huge spike on the back of a FIFA bundle and low sales the prior week for xbone. Still the PS4 slim is not a great value proposition since on an equal HD size basis the 1TB version is only £50 less than the Pro. Will be interesting to see how things develop over the holiday season as a more competitive market is better for consumers.
@Jackrov Boy did you pick the wrong place to diss Sony and the PRO. Sammy is a true PS veteran! You're insulting his basic rights as a human being by stating your displeasure with Sony! In all seriousness though, you don't need a pro if you don't have a 4K TV. There won't be enough differences at 1080 to justify the price, and honestly, a few extra frames on some games won't make the world fall apart. Just enjoy what you have, and watch everyone else vigorously defend their purchase while knowing they probably wasted their money.
@get2sammyb Will review websites, including this, test every single game on two platforms to report problems with the game on the old ps4?
And on what console will the review score be based?
Will developers squeeze the impossible out of the old model like they try to do now, if a better model is out, or just relax their standard for the old model?
Time will tell, but I am afraid after the first few months it will be a little messy. Some new games, for reference, don't work that well on the original 3DS.
@Jackrov You may be buying consoles for the wrong reasons.
Nevertheless, you do bring up an interesting question regarding future PS4 reviews.
I too, think the PS4 Pro is a lame idea, BTW. I'm not broken up about it, though... just ambivalent, as it's just the latest in a long line of bad decisions (IMO).
@Jackrov Mine works great i think you are just exaggerating. I have a lot of young people who say im just playing FIFA why should I buy a Pro. And most of them rather keep the € 50 then pay extra for something they don't care about.
You know, I've been pondering about this for a while, and I thought: "if the PS4 Slim is for someone who doesn't have a PS4 yet, and the PS4 sold like hotcakes, who's left to buy a Slim? Well, aside from me, anyway."
So many probably already have a PS4 they're content with, maybe there isn't a great number of people leftover to boost Slim sales.
@DerMeister That's what I was thinking, especially when there's an upgrade console on the way.
@DerMeister The slim is too expensive for it's purpose (cheaper ps4), for casual gamer that only play fifa and cod on console maybe xbox slim is better value because the system has uhd drive and the design is way nicer than original. Still, for hardcore gamer ps4 is better though since it has a lot of exclusive games and you can get nearly all xbox exclusive on pc.
@Jackrov I think review should be based on old ps4 with little sidenotes that explain ps4 pro advantage.
If it were $250, I think it would be selling better. I know everybody on this website disagrees but if you ask me, the Xbox One S is how you do a mid-gen refresh.
@uMuffin For me missing uhd player is not a problem, but I understand. Sony like a media giant omitted uhd in newest PRO console There was some article week ago about uhd strategy at Sony overall. They are somewhat on beginning of support and are little slow in comparision with competition. But its strange. I dont know what is their strategy. I dont buy "we believe in streaming" thing.
There is one thing I can believe. Because uhd bd players differs from bd players in firmware (error checking) and support of codecs, but not by laser or drive mechanics, there is possibility, sony can unlock it by firmware update. But I dont know what would they wait for. This is best time to unlock it
Lets be honest, going forward, theXB1s is much better value than the PS4 and Slim. It may not have the power to push out the extra resolution that the PS4 has in some cases but it still plays the majority of the same games but also comes with a 4K HDR Bluray player - something that alone would cost more the Xbox One S. That at least makes the XB1s seem much better value than a PS4 slim that does the same as the PS4, looks cheaper and doesn't quite offer the same options with the lack of optical. With the Pro coming out in November too, I am not surprised people are not buying a Slim (or PS4) - Consoles very much rooted in 2013.
Both the XB1s and Pro at least offer something for the future - either in the media side or gaming.
@fybyfyby Sony are about to release its own dedicated 4k HDR Bluray player and the cynic in me says that Sony are 'worried' about loss of sales if people just buy the 'Pro'. By not putting in a 4K Bluray, People may opt to buy the player too. DVD and Bluray player sales dropped significantly with the consoles able to double up as players. Whilst these are 'selling' points for the consoles, it also impacts on the sale of dedicated players. Sony's 'non-gaming' side are not exactly the 'force' they were and often its the gaming side that's making all the profit and offsetting some of these losses.
@BAMozzy That makes sense. And because of this I would not be surprised, if Sony after some initial uhd bd players sales unlock uhd bd via firmware update on pro (assuming now, that pro has uhd support but its not turned on). It would be great strategy if Microsoft didnt release xbox one s
@fybyfyby Upgrading the Bluray is probably not possible. I can't imagine they effectively 'nerfed' the player to only play Blurays. In essence its similar to all other 'similar' drives in that a CD Player can only play CD's and no update can make it play DVD's. The 'technology' is similar enough that 'backwards' compatibility is possible but its more than 'software' that determines what a drive can play - its a hardware issue. As you know, a CD, DVD, Bluray etc all look the same but the storage of data (can be multi layered) and the quality of the laser for example are factors. For Sony to 'upgrade' the player, they would need to change the hardware.
@BAMozzy I think probability of this is very low. But according what I read:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1086342
It should be possible. CD, DVD and BD are totally different formats. Remember ps3 software update from bd to 3d bd? BD and uhd BD is same technology unlike dvd and cd. But Im not in any way some specialist. Im only selling what I bought.
@DerMeister The PS2 sold 155 million devices world-wide and from all of the stats so far, the PS4 is shaping up to blow that number out of the water. That means that there are well over 100 million PS4's that have yet to be sold. There is plenty of room for the Slim (no pun intended!).
@Grawlog This is not Microsoft catching up trend (they all have their spikes and valleys) this is just the calm before the storm. Sony is preparing two very expensive pieces of hardware in the next two months, the PSVR and PS4 Pro, so many people are likely waiting to see how well this hits before they make a purchase.
I find it astonishing UK gamers trust Microsoft still. I wouldn't buy a Xbox if it was for erm free Can't they remember that Microsoft tried to DRM them with the original Xbox ONE's idea? Hmm, oh well they will suffer 1 day.
The Xbone game selection is so much poorer than PS4's that there shouldn't be any reason to buy One over PS4. This just shows how Sony hasn't been doing very well lately, and the botched Slim/Pro "reveal" didn't help.
@Grawlog Well said.
@Grawlog I don't disagree, but this does not invalidate anything I said. The PS4 Pro has not priced itself out of "just normal people buying it" hell its the same price as the PS4 was for the first couple years. I think quite a few people are waiting to see where the chips fall there. See if its worth buying the new one, or get the previous one at a discount. Also your comment about PSVR being niche, is your opinion, one that many people share, true; but also one that many others are waiting to see if it takes off and is the next big thing, or if it just falls to the side like 3D. I am not saying its either one, but with anything of this nature, we won't know until it happens. Thats my point, a lot of people are waiting, for both PSVR and Pro to land, to see if either of them are worth it, or have staying power. I know I would (and have) suggested to many people looking to get a PS4 the last couple months to wait. Wait and see if Pro is going to be worth it.
Even those not waiting for the Pro or PSVR for themselves, are waiting for the Pro to hit so the price of the "regular" console will drop even more (a large influx of used PS4s from upgraders will be much cheaper than getting a new Slim unit).
LOLing at a lot of these comments. Yes I own a PS4 Yes I own an Xbox One, which one will I upgrade ? Xbox Scorpio is what its all about. The Pro is not enough of an upgrade and the slim is just not needed. At least the Xbox S is more of an upgrade to what the PS4 slim is to the standard PS4, and with Scorpio round the corner, that will be a beast of a machine. Difference is that I am older and have more of a grip on reality, and to say that Xbox doesn't have a good selection of games is just being ignorant and a fan boy.
Such a stupid move by Sony it was obvious, anyway getting pro and little lad is getting my PS4. Why did they make the Slim....
@RustyBullet agreed, getting a Scorpio as well and will be trading in my Pro, I suspect i'm not gunna be the only one. If I ever want to play PS4 I have 2 other PS4's in the house for my kid's I could use.
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