After June’s NPD figures leaked last week, many gamers are under the impression that the Xbox One is underselling. While this is true next to the PlayStation 4, which blitzed the leaderboard for the sixth month in a row, some seem to think that the Xbox One is selling poorly in comparison to the Xbox 360. Despite fluctuation in sales, this is absolutely untrue.
The Xbox One started its first few months with a bang, and only trailed slightly behind the PlayStation 4. As the months progressed and the gap slowly widened, the Xbox One sold roughly 3 million worldwide before the end of 2013. I can’t find any solid numbers for the Xbox 360’s first few months, so all we have to compare it to are the relative NPD numbers below.
In its first month, November, the Xbox One sold just short of 1 million units in the US, following with very similar numbers in December. Launching on the same date, the Xbox 360 sold 326,000 in November, and 281,000 in December. That being said, the 360’s numbers continue along for the next six months remaining in the same ballpark zone, while the Xbox One fluctuates randomly from 77,000 in May to 311,000 in March.
Interestingly enough, the Xbox One’s numbers are easily comparable to major Microsoft milestones: Titanfall‘s release in March – as shown by the steady increase beginning in February that drops off in April – and the Kinect-related price drop in June, shown in the jump from May’s sales.
To date, the Xbox One has sold roughly 2,916,000 units in the US alone, while the Xbox 360 sold 2,003,000 in the same time frame. Those are great launch numbers for both consoles, but to suggest the Xbox One is lagging behind where the Xbox 360 was is preposterous. As October – the month of games – approaches, expect to see another huge jump in sales for both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
With such a strong start, especially from Sony, it’ll be interesting to see where the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 go from here. It’s going to be an exciting generation.
Xbox One NPD since launch
November 2013 – 909,000
December 2013 – 908,000
January 2014 – 141,000
February 2014 – 258,000
March 2014 – 311,000
April 2014 – 115,000
May 2014 – 77,000
June 2014 – 197,000
Total Xbox One sales – 2,916,000
Xbox 360 NPD since launch
November 2005 – 326,000
December 2005 – 281,000
January 2006 – 250,000
February 2006 – 161,000
March 2006 – 192,000
April 2006 – 295,000
May 2006 – 221,000
June 2006 – 277,000
Total Xbox 360 sales – 2,003,000
To disagree, drop a line to, or just have a chat with the author, follow him on Twitter ‘@alexconnellan‘.
