Microsoft boasts that its latest Xbox consoles are its best-sellers ever.
Despite battling a global shortage of semiconductors both Sony’s PlayStation 5 machine and Microsoft’s Xbox Series S and Series X are nonetheless championing record-breaking sales.
The latest generation of games consoles has already been an odd one. Despite battling a global shortage of semiconductors, affecting supplies of both Sony’s PlayStation 5 and Microsoft’s Xbox Series S and Series X, each console is nonetheless championing record-breaking sales.
Sony boasted last year that the PlayStation 5 was the fastest-selling games console ever, at a point when Twitter bots were required to even track one of the bloody things down.
Now, Microsoft has got in on the act. Microsoft’s Xbox boss Phil Spencer has been telling the New York Times that the latest generation have been the fastest-selling Xboxes to date. Or, in his words, “at this point, we’ve sold more of this generation of Xboxes, which is Xbox Series X and S, than we had any previous version of Xboxes”.
What the breakdown is between the expensive Series X and the less expensive Series S he wasn’t telling, and nor was he spilling exact numbers. A pity, because it’d be worth knowing, When a new generation console comes around, do people just want the most expensive machine, or were they tempted in numbers by the nimble and impressive Series S, that sells for £200 cheaper?
Microsoft’s Xbox boss Phil Spencer told the New York Times: “At this point, we’ve sold more of this generation of Xboxes, which is Xbox Series X and S, than we had any previous version of Xboxes”.
The data may be swayed by the fact that whilst Series X machines were in incredibly short supply at the end of last year, when it came to the Series S the stock problems appeared to have been sorted. Even today, whilst it’s difficult to land a PlayStation 5 or an Xbox Series X, it’s no struggle to pick up a Series S machine.
Supply problems are expected to continue for the first few months of the year at least, which suggests there may yet be significant ceiling room for further growth here.
Furthermore, this is the year that the much-vaunted, triple-A gaming titles are expected in greater quantities than we’ve been seeing over the last 18 months or so (Xbox, in fairness, has delivered more than PlayStation there).
Still, even against a backdrop of challenges, it’s champagne corks popping at Microsoft for the moment – even it it’s still believed to be trailing the PlayStation 5 by some distance…
