After years of being on top, the PlayStation 4 has now slumped to its fourth NPD defeat in a row – a trend that would probably be worrying Sony if its install base wasn't growing at an accelerated rate globally. The console lost the monthly US hardware contest for October, meaning that it's been a little while since the Japanese giant's box was last on top.
Of course, the numbers do paint a slightly different picture, with the PS4 still commanding a 1.5 million unit lead in America according to inside sources. More to the point, one of the Xbox One's wins was by a margin of just 10,000 units – a figure comfortably accounted for by, say, a single week in Japan.
But that is putting a slightly positive spin on proceedings, and there's no question that the platform holder, which has dominated the entire generation thus far, will be disappointed to see its system start having its US lead eaten into. It suggests that the PS4 Slim, which launched with very little fanfare, has failed to manage to bridge the gap before the PS4 Pro.
And it's perhaps the first real ball that Sony has dropped since 2013. There are a few things worth keeping in mind before panicking, of course: as mentioned, the PS4 Pro is the big, supercharged elephant in the room, and PlayStation's two big co-marketing partnerships this year – Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare and Watch Dogs 2 – will factor into the next NPD report.
It'll be interesting to see how Black Friday changes things, because there's no question that Microsoft has been the most aggressive with its pricing for years now. Looking at some of the leaked fliers, the lower production costs of the PS4 Slim don't appear to have tempted Sony into really slashing the price of the system. But then, with the console racing to 50 million units, maybe it doesn't feel that it needs to.
[source uk.ign.com]
Comments 21
I think that the imminent release of the Pro has got to have had an affect on these figures over the past few months. It will be interesting seeing how the next few months go I expect things to be a lot different again.
Xbox one doing great job of backwards compatibility, if you have the Xbox 360 games it's totally free otherwise you buy them super cheap, PS4 you have to pay £20 a month to play backwards compatibility! Xbox one do early access.... PS4 don't!! Sony bring out a console that's "twice" the power of a PS4 normal, Microsoft bring a console out that's going to be super powerful, wonder why Sony is now falling behind!
Sony doesn't have anything to worry about, but with that said things are definitely going to start balancing out over the next few years. MS has been doing everything right since Spencer rose to power, the BC is absolutely huge. A real reason to choose Xbox instead of PS (of course there's reasons to choose PS over Xbox too, but it doesn't diminish the appeal X1 has brought to the table lately).
In the end though, console sales are down all around. I mean, Sony is dominating the console market (Nintendo only mustered 13 mil Wii U sold and Xbox One is just 20 mil iirc). That means, aside from 33 million units sold, all the rest belong to Sony. So why is it they're only at 50 mil? There were 260 million consoles sold last generation, not to mention another 200 million handhelds. And granted, last gen was a huge boom but even in 6th gen Sony managed 150 mil with a very comparable 45 mil units sold by competitors (which may be the total this gen for Ninty+MS after everything is said and done).
Sales are down. And nobody is talking about it. With the amount of units sold from Nintendo and MS, PS4 should be hitting 150 million this generation. And they're a long ways off from that. A long ways. Sales are always strongest in the first several years so I wouldn't expect them to do another 50 million over the course of the next three years. Maybe 30. Which would put them at roughly half the units sold they should have. Even if they managed to break three digits before the end of the generation that's still a huge gap between previous generations and now.
Ps4 do have early access
Guess Sony should've added that 4k Blu Ray drive then.
All I can say is I hope MS keeps tallying up some wins because Sony has become too complacent for my liking. It's time they start actually giving us choices on certain things and lets begin with the really easy ones that should've happened a long time ago... External Harddrive support and EA Access. Stop the arrogant 'we'll tell you what's good for you' bullsh*t and start letting consumers decide.
Everyone waiting for the pro + ps slim price is too expensive + really good deals on xbox one = this 4 month npd.
If things actually get bad sony can comfortablly drop price.
I expect pro to do well though personally as it's great price for what it is
As I said after last months 'loss', I fully expected MS to win this month too. I do think MS managed to get a lot right with the XB1s - not just the 4k Bluray player as such but design (inc the Power brick removal) and of course a number of 'unique' bundles - the Gears 4 console looks awesome. I am still surprised that the 4K HDR Player was such a popular move as it only benefits 4k TV owners but the pricing of the XB1s is super competitive. It offers more for the money than the PS4 and Slim - albeit at a slightly lower resolution in some games.
Sony though probably should have released the Pro first - certainly if they were concerned more about sales figures - but I understand why they opted to release the slim first to show that it is still committed to the 'PS4'. I can understand why many are not interested in the slim either - for a little bit ($100) more they get a whole lot more! The Slim can't compete with the XB1s for features yet costs more - the Pro however targets 'gamers', isn't that much more expensive (£50 if you look at similar HDD sized models) and offers something to all owners - not just those with 4k TV's.
I wouldn't be surprised if Sony dominate from November - all the way up until MS bring out the Scorpio - although March 2017 may see a 'loss' to Nintendo - depending on specs, cost etc...
Is there any indication that MS loses money on every Xbox S sold?
Just curious...
Slump? That sounds very n4g/VGChartz 2 things to remember is people have been waiting for the Pro for the last few months and MS have been selling their old Xbox ONE's for $1(it seems like) So from now on with the Pro out I can't see MS winning for a while.
Hell yeah! Take that you Japanese punks, here's some Trump action for y'all! Wooooohh!!
U S A! U S A! U S A!
#makeAmerica(nConsoles)greatagain #thisisforthenaysayers #andsomethingsomethingBrexit
I completely understand why x360 owners are returning to the x1 - the better racer in Forza Horizon 3, external HD support, 4k blue ray support, backwards compatibility (lost odyssey / blue dragon / halo reach patch all in the last 6 weeks), better online experience. Some of the recent bundles are excellent value with a big HDD to boot! I've been tempted, really tempted. But my moneys on a PS4 Pro after much deliberation. But that decision was hard with an xbox 1 s, 1 tb with FH3, Gears of war and Sunset overdrive winking at me.
Come on Sony dont mess this launch up!
I think xbox have done a better job on the S than sony did on the slim. It is yet to be seen how the scoprio turns out but again I think it will be a better machine in terms of specs and also design.
I never considered buying a pro it does not add any extra games. Insteasd I ended up buying a PC gaming machine which only cost me £300 more than if I had bought both ps4 and then the pro.
I will get the Switch next year for the portable gamin aspect next year which is getting a lot of PS4 ports.
Sony inovated with the PSVR but do not think the Pro has added any real value to the PS family.
With the PS4 Pro coming out so soon after the Slims release its no wonder why the Slim isn't selling, because for around a £100 more your getting a whole lot more. If people think Sony behind go and look at the sales figures & you'll see who is behind, the reason why XboxOnes has a UHD Blu-Ray player & BC in the first place. Also the Scorpio isn't a threat to the PS4 Pro for a simple reason, price point. Price point in the console market is very important even if its a powerful console, last gen proved that and the reason why both Microsoft & Sony dropped exotic hardware among other reasons. I think Sony has a better understanding of the console market over Microsoft, the reason why the PS4 Pro is still a PS4 at the end of the day with the price point matching its original release with both systems sharing the same games. Which Microsoft will probably do with the Scorpio & the XboxOne s, as it would be very unwise to split its user base but it'll be its price point that will probably damage its sales until a price drop because it isn't releasing for £349.99 thats for sure.
I think the Pro is a great move, I just think the Slim is a bit of a misfire, more from a timing POV.
The slim and the XB1s aren't comparable - you are getting more for your money from XB1s than Slim. The slim is really just a replacement for the launch PS4. I think if the Slim and Pro had been launched at the same time, just to show, hey you can pay a little more for a higher spec machine or we are still supporting launch PS4's with the slim, it would have been a better and simpler message.
Sony have actually managed three product launches a month now since Sept. Maybe they should have combined and made it two. As someone who went from 360 to PS4, I am still happy with the choice but if I were choosing between slim and XB1s, I would go 1s. If I were choosing between 1s and Pro, I would go Pro.
By that I mean, the PS4 pro. Not become a Pro.
@JaxonH Very good points. Nintendo and MS fumbled really badly this generation, and even Sony hasn't been able to pick up the slack. It's been a long time since I've heard news of an interesting upcoming PS4 game.
All the focus on PSVR and Pro is taking away from the actual games. Sony is cashing in with the niche who are foolish enough to buy into those, but they've got nothing to offer for gamers who've been left cold by PSVR and Pro.
Well, XBONE's selling, give Sony a little money since Microsoft has blu ray in it (since Sony owns Blu Ray), but other than that, I still don't know anyone that owns an XBONE near me. XBONE is selling due to the backwards compatibility, finally giving the 360 owners a reason to upgrade...Playstation hasn't added that, which is disappointing, and the fact that if you wanted to upgrade the PS4's hard drive to get more space, the biggest you can really do is 2TB...which still isn't enough to have an extensive library. Black friday and holiday sales will make it grow, especially if that have a really good bundle available at that time...they only really have to worry about Microsoft competing, nintendo will only have the 3DS to compete, and that's a handheld, so I don't really count them...don't see many Wii U's flying off the shelves since they have shown off the Switch and the NES Mini will be out...nintendo will shine in March, and that's when Sony should release another big game for the PS4...as well as Microsoft. I'd still love to buy an XBONE, but I still don't really see many exclusives that make it worth it to me yet and I'm saving up for the Switch and PS VR at the moment.
I reckon Sony will win next month, not that I care but I think people were holding out for the Pro. Why the hell would they buy a PS4 slim, I said it before the slim released and i'll say it again, what a dumb move Sony why the hell would anybody buy the PS4 slim??!!?? It suck's. Actualy I do care, I hope MS win a few more tbh and make it tighter, Sony might not rest on their laurel's so much.
@xMEADx Language -Tasuki-
Could it be Sony's marketing is non-existent, haven't seen anything regarding Slim/PSVR/Pro compared to Xbox1 S which I've been seeing ads everywhere on TV to youtube etc.....
It seems like Sony launched everything within a month and don't want to waste money to market 3 separate devices..
@Midzark @Midzark well done kid, stupidest argument ever, I have backwards compatibility on both consoles... It's called my 360 & PS3... And I hardly ever play them! Anyone who thinks this cycle is about games older than 3 years ago is looking for a reason to justify MS's disaster with XB1. Now they have made a decent Xbox they are turning round, and those people wishing to buy a PS4 would be stupid not to wait for the pro
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...