Devil's advocate... no proof Xbox One is outselling PS4
So Microsoft finally released some new numbers which say Xbox One sold over 2 million units in 18 days. Over around the same period, the PS4 sold a couple hundred thousand more unit. But in over twice as many countries. So, many have changed their tune today and are now claiming that since Microsoft launched in fewer countries, that it is technically beating the PS4.
But this is dead wrong. How are people STILL missing the point?
The only interesting things about this are that it implies that Microsoft's yields on Xbox One may not have been any better than PS4's. In fact, anecdotally, they imply that Microsoft was actually able to produce fewer. The other interesting point pertains to what this means for the predictions that PS4 outsold Xbox One in North America for November. If Microsoft and Sony sold so close to the same number of units, but Microsoft targeted only 13, rather than 32 locales, then it is EVEN more unlikely that PS4 outsold Xbox One in November. Let alone by 66%.
Enter broken record mode. This doesn't mean Xbox is winning. BOTH consoles remain in a position where demand is outstripping availability.
What *should* be becoming more and more obvious is that each company had vastly different strategies. Microsoft chose to launch on day one only in certain critical markets. In some cases, like the UK, it was probably more to make sure a country that produced several game titles doesn't get burned like some countries that won't see the console launch for quite some time still. Or perhaps Microsoft was trying to "win" there as well and underestimated how many units Sony would ship there.
In other markets, like the US and Canada, they clearly dumped massive numbers of units hoping to be perceived as the winner.
Sony, on the other hand. While they likely also weighted how many units went to certain countries differently, seems to have focused on launching in as many countries as possible. Which resulted in very limited quantities virtually everywhere.
Given that Sony reached 2 million units more quickly, indicates that Sony either reached a final design sooner and so was able to stockpile more before launch day, or they are able to produce them more quickly.
Microsoft should really be hoping that the stockpile theory is the right one. At the lower price point, if Sony can out produce Microsoft in this initial sales period it will retain the lead in global sales and perhaps even outpace Microsoft in those markets where it threw all it's weight to try and get an early lead.
If Sony did stockpile units. Than it is feasible that Microsoft may even overtake Sony once that stockpile is depleted in global sales until availability stops being the limiting factor.
But this is dead wrong. How are people STILL missing the point?
The only interesting things about this are that it implies that Microsoft's yields on Xbox One may not have been any better than PS4's. In fact, anecdotally, they imply that Microsoft was actually able to produce fewer. The other interesting point pertains to what this means for the predictions that PS4 outsold Xbox One in North America for November. If Microsoft and Sony sold so close to the same number of units, but Microsoft targeted only 13, rather than 32 locales, then it is EVEN more unlikely that PS4 outsold Xbox One in November. Let alone by 66%.
Enter broken record mode. This doesn't mean Xbox is winning. BOTH consoles remain in a position where demand is outstripping availability.
What *should* be becoming more and more obvious is that each company had vastly different strategies. Microsoft chose to launch on day one only in certain critical markets. In some cases, like the UK, it was probably more to make sure a country that produced several game titles doesn't get burned like some countries that won't see the console launch for quite some time still. Or perhaps Microsoft was trying to "win" there as well and underestimated how many units Sony would ship there.
In other markets, like the US and Canada, they clearly dumped massive numbers of units hoping to be perceived as the winner.
Sony, on the other hand. While they likely also weighted how many units went to certain countries differently, seems to have focused on launching in as many countries as possible. Which resulted in very limited quantities virtually everywhere.
Given that Sony reached 2 million units more quickly, indicates that Sony either reached a final design sooner and so was able to stockpile more before launch day, or they are able to produce them more quickly.
Microsoft should really be hoping that the stockpile theory is the right one. At the lower price point, if Sony can out produce Microsoft in this initial sales period it will retain the lead in global sales and perhaps even outpace Microsoft in those markets where it threw all it's weight to try and get an early lead.
If Sony did stockpile units. Than it is feasible that Microsoft may even overtake Sony once that stockpile is depleted in global sales until availability stops being the limiting factor.
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