The console market could be its most competitive during year’s this Holiday Season. Xbox One X (and Xbox One S), PlayStation 4, and the Nintendo Switch will fight it out for dominance. Microsoft’s upcoming device is off to a fantastic start and is topping Amazon’s Video Games category.
Just yesterday, Microsoft opened pre-orders on the standard edition of the Xbox One X. The more premium Project Scorpio Edition has already torn up pre-order sales earlier this month. It is clear the “world’s most powerful console ever” is a hit for the company.
When discussing Xbox One X sales, I always add the following caveat: This is not Microsoft’s core selling device. That remains the Xbox One S, which will account for the bulk of Xbox sales this winter. The company has not released the One X in vast numbers, but certainly in enough numbers for it to be a success.
Successful to beat out Sony’s PS4 Pro? Probably not, although overall, Xbox could down Sony this Holiday Season, at least in the United States. Selling out on Amazon is important considering it is the largest online retailer.
Holiday Season Console War
So, Microsoft is probably going to have a bumper Holiday Season. However, that is probably true also for its main competitors.
For the first time in years, we are at a point where three main consoles are selling well. Whoever wins the market this season, it will probably be by fine margins … Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo will all be winners.
We have already discussed Microsoft, but let’s look at the rivals. Sony’s PlayStation 4 has sold consistently well throughout its life and is comfortably the leading sales product in this generation of consoles.
While sales have evened out, they remain consistently strong. Sony is no longer leading the market these days in monthly sales, but the PS4 remains a good seller. It is worth mentioning that Sony does not have the luxury of the new console buzz that Microsoft and Nintendo are currently enjoying.
Incidentally, second on the Amazon chart is a $20 PS Store gift card, with the $10 in third. So, even if PS4 sales tail off, customers are clearly still putting money into the ecosystem.
Talking about Nintendo, the company has topped the U.S. console markert for four of the last five months. The new Switch console has plenty of buzz and unlike the Wii U, consumers seem to be on board.
We are still at the stage of seeing whether this is a minor resurgence for Nintendo, or a culture moving event product like the Wii. The true popularity of the Switch will probably be somewhere in between. However, for the first time in several years, Nintendo is back in the mix.
