PS4 Outsold the Xbox One by Almost Double Last Month

By Jane McEntegart
published

PS4 on top for sales in the United States.

Sony's PS4 and Microsoft's Xbox One were released at the end of last year and both have enjoyed successful launches. Now, several months on, the launch frenzy has settled down and we're able to take a proper look at how each console is doing in terms of sales. According to NPD's data for January, the PS4 outsold the Xbox One in terms of units sold. By a lot.

Microsoft announced yesterday that it had shipped 2.27 million units in the U.S. The news was revealed in a lengthy blog post on Xbox.com where the company proudly exclaimed that it is leading U.S. software game sales. Over on Sony's official PlayStation blog, the PS4 maker was focusing on another statistic. There, Sony revealed that it had sold nearly double the number consoles compared to "the nearest next gen competitor," in the U.S. Not only that, but the company has sold every PS4 available in the United States.

At launch, Xbox One definitely had the upper hand when it came to who had the longer list of exclusive titles. However, priced at $100 more, the Xbox One is less attractive for price-sensitive customers looking to get on board with the next generation of console hardware. Especially around the holidays, when people are generally more strapped for cash than other times of the year. Microsoft has said it has no plans to ditch Kinect to make the console cheaper, so it will have to rely on exclusive titles to maintain an edge over PS4. Titanfall is set to be one of the biggest games of the year, and it's launching in March on Xbox and PC only. On the flip-side of that argument, Sony also has a number of exclusive titles, including Infamous: Second Son, which also launches next month. It'll be interesting to see how console sales progress as 2014 wears on.

These measurements are based on U.S. sales along, which is probably the fairest comparison. Global data would likely be a little skewed thanks to the fact that the PS4 is available in 53 countries while the Xbox One is still only available in the 13 countries in which it launched way back in November. The console will hit Japan, as well as several other 'tier 2' countries, later this year, though Microsoft has yet to specify a release date for that launch.

Follow Jane McEntegart @JaneMcEntegart. Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.

Jane McEntegart
40 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Mike Friesen
    And maybe because the ps4 is faster by ~30%? Meaning it runs games at 1080p where xbone is at 720/900p? (Not all the time, but some of the time)Or how about that not everyone wants to rely on their internet for rendering frames/lighting in microsoft's big releases? Or that microsoft scared off a bunch of customers with DRM?
    Reply
  • wafflestomper
    And maybe because the ps4 is faster by ~30%? Meaning it runs games at 1080p where xbone is at 720/900p? (Not all the time, but some of the time)Or how about that not everyone wants to rely on their internet for rendering frames/lighting in microsoft's big releases? Or that microsoft scared off a bunch of customers with DRM?
    Yeah, plus it's $100 cheaper.
    Reply
  • Stimpack
    And it's made by a company that isn't a pile of major money-grabbing crap, and they know what they're doing instead of making garbage consumer-unfriendly decisions, mocking their customers base, and then flip-flopping. Their board doesn't even want the Xbox division, and they've been firing/hiring like crazy. Everything about the current state of the Xbox-side of Microsoft seems absolutely terrible. Plus they've been gouging people for years with Netflix behind a paywall and all kinds of garbage. Microsoft sends out 50 microsoft points, Sony sends out $10 credits. Microsoft admits defeat by trying to do their own PS+ IGC, but they put out bottom of the barrel garbage. From top to bottom, it amazed me how poorly things were handled.I'm not trying to sit here and say that Sony is perfect, or that they aren't after money like every other business in existence, but I am saying that they've a hell of a lot better in a lot of ways. The proof is in the numbers.
    Reply
  • stevejnb
    Stimpack... While there is no question that MS has made a debacle of the XBOX One's launch, based on your comments about what you think Sony is not, are you completely unfamiliar with Sony's history concerning relationship with the consumer? Whether it's rootkits or sacrificing goats in PR stunts or "if the consumer wants one, they can just work a little harder" or just outright charging significantly more for their products than the competition... Do you really believe the benevolent good guys here more than just a company that is astoundingly arrogant that is sucking up to a consumer that was jumping ship on them?
    Reply
  • bradsctt
    Im not a PC or Xbox fanboy, but remember, this is mainly because there was finally stock available for the PS4. Xbox ruled for at least two months due to the PS4 supply shortages
    Reply
  • fleeb
    I love Japanese tech. Let us support the Japanese economy and buy their products, which, are top notch.
    Reply
  • Jgriff
    Should be outselling it by more than double, for 100$ less you get a system that's 50% more powerful...fanboy or not, it doesn't make sense to get a xbone, atleast not to me lol. Plus most of its "exclusives" will be landing on pc anyway.
    Reply
  • stevejnb
    12682491 said:
    Should be outselling it by more than double, for 100$ less you get a system that's 50% more powerful...fanboy or not, it doesn't make sense to get a xbone, atleast not to me lol. Plus most of its "exclusives" will be landing on pc anyway.

    While your point is sound in theory, if it were anywhere near true, the weaker and more expensive and significantly less powerful PS2 would have been outsold by the original XBOX. Didn't happen, nor should it have. In a world where people running $2000 gaming rigs get excited about games like Braid and To The Moon, acting like system power is a deciding factor in anything but forum wars between fanboys is a bit unrealistic.

    That being said, this is more of an standoffish observation. The XB1 is unlikely to keep up with the PS4 this gen for sales, but everyone screaming bloody murder about the system's respective power being a deciding factor is pretty ignorant of console history, when the last two generations' top sellers were the weakest consoles of the three major ones available.
    Reply
  • Jgriff
    @steve

    the ps2 outsold the original xbox because it was out years before it and had far more games, plus it was cheaper....and when it comes to games, actual exclusive AAA games sonys track record is impressive, they're the only one of the big 3 who constanty put out fresh new ips. While Microsoft buys timed exclusives from 3rd parites...the only aaa games they really have had that was theirs in the last 6 years that didn't end up on another platform was halo, Forza, and gears.....
    Reply
  • bison88
    It's $100 overpriced with a Kinect that many would rather not have over the discount and the hardware itself is inferior tot he PS4. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to do the math as this is the main reason the 360 outsold the PS3 for a long long time.The simple fact that the XBONE struggles just to get 720p content at 30 or 60FPS in 2014 is just mind blowing. We don't need all the fancy graphics that goes with game engines, but not being able to play at a High Def resolution that has been mainstream since 2009 is embarrassing. PS4 isn't much better, but in comparisons it's leaps ahead.
    Reply