When you're losing in a battle of sales, the best way to get back at your opponent is to bring up where you are winning. In the case of Microsoft, while the Xbox One is constantly losing market share and sales ground to the PlayStation 4, they still had some stats in their favor, including Xbox brand accessories and games.
According to Australia's Smarthouse, the NPD Group's numbers reveal that the PlayStation 4 was the top-selling new generation console throughout 2013 and that the OZ gaming sector increased throughout the year by a massive 27%. Unfortunately they didn't detail the exact sales numbers, but NPD did note that the PS4 managed to outsell the Xbox One.
Sony's managing director of SCE operations in Australia, Michael Ephraim, commented about the massive success the PlayStation brand has had throughout 2013, stating...
“It has been an enormous 12 months for PlayStation in Australia"... "The arrival of PS4 at the end of 2013 has further strengthened the love affair Australian gamers have with PlayStation. PS4 has been an astronomic success in Australia; a story that is replicated around the globe."As the world's most powerful home console, PS4 truly represents the next generation in gaming."
Aussies spent more than $2 billion on games, and helped contribute to the overall $44 billion dollar gaming industry, as noted in the DFC Intelligence report by Gamers Nexus.
Microsoft wasn't taking the news lying down, though. According to Australian media outlet Channel News, Microsoft's Jeremy Hinton, the business group leader of their interactive entertainment division in Australia...
"Xbox One saw higher unit sales of consoles, games and accessories than any other next generation console in Australia last year and topped all prior console launches in the country's history.""Supply of the Xbox One has been limited since Christmas, however we are doing our best to meet demand, especially for Australians looking to join the action with the launch of Titanfall on March 13.”“Added to this is the Xbox One's continuous innovation with a commitment to listening to community feedback and delivering new features through system updates faster than ever before."
Well, having to pay extra for necessary charging cables can really pump up the price, especially in comparison to the PS4 where charging cables are included.
Also, listening to community feedback? If Microsoft had listened to community feedback we'd see a console that evolved over what the Xbox 360 brought, not devolved into a sub-par media entertainment device that's still outclassed by both the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.
Worse yet is that the console just barely received some mandatory features like hard drive management and battery indicators, features that weren't available for the system at launch.
Microsoft has up until May 30th to get the system in proper order, as that's when Mario Kart 8 will drop for the Wii U. While the PS4 has completely taken over the sales charts the world around, Microsoft might have to battle with Nintendo for second place throughout the eighth gen. If that March patch, along with the launch of Titanfall, brings great things like the company has promised, they might not get left too far behind.
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