Sony’s six-month march to the top of the next-gen world continues. After six months on the market, the company has announced that PS4 sales have topped the 7 million mark worldwide. Compared to Microsoft’s Xbox One sales of 5 million, that’s a 40% lead — and maybe even higher. There are several reasons for PS4 dominating, but the PS4 games, price and brand loyalty are the three largest factors.
Sony’s 7 million PS4 sales figure represents consoles “sold-through” to consumers, meaning there are 7 million PS4s actually in the hands of gamers. Microsoft’s 5 million mark represents units “sold-in” to retailers, meaning some of those 5 million are still gathering dust on store shelves.
That’s a notable difference and will only fuel the PS4 vs. Xbox One sales debate, but in the grand scheme of things may not matter.
What does matter are some of the reasons Sony’s gained that lead, notably the PS4 games, price and global brand loyalty.
As noted by BGR, Sony’s had quite a few more exclusive games released on PS4. Almost all of those exclusives are indie games and/or PS4 games released for free through the PlayStation Plus program, but it’s still a contributing factor to Sony’s momentum.
Indeed, Sony confirmed that PS4 games have reached 20.5 million copies sold worldwide. The figure includes PS4 game sales both through the retail channel and Sony’s own PlayStation Store as of April 13.
The console’s price, a full $100 less than Xbox One (unless you nab the Titanfall bundle or another quickly assembled pack), is another top candidate for the reason PS4 sales are so much higher than Xbox One’s. And then there’s brand loyalty to consider: the Xbox brand may have gained followers in North America, but Sony’s had a virtual stranglehold on most of the rest of the world, particularly in Europe.
Still, Microsoft’s Xbox One seems to be gaining ground, albeit slowly. Microsoft said it sold 311,000 Xbox Ones in March, while estimates from sales-tracking firm NPD put PS4 sales in March at about 370,000. Sony’s still very clearly in the lead, but the tide may be changing.
Sony’s executives don’t acknowledge the potential recent momentum shift. However, they definitely cite the global strength of the PlayStation brand when discussing the PS4 sales overall momentum.
When announcing the PS4 had surpassed the 7 million units sold mark, Andrew House, President and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, said “The response from the global gaming community for PS4 has been overwhelming and we are truly humbled that gamers are selecting PS4 as their next generation console of choice. The PS4 journey has just begun, and although we are still facing difficulties keeping up with the strong demand worldwide, we remain steadfast in our commitment to meet the needs of our customers….”
The PS4 is currently available in 72 countries and regions worldwide. Microsoft’s Xbox One is available in just 13.