The Microsoft Xbox One and the Sony PlayStation 4 (PS4) are selling well, and have breathe a new life in the struggling gaming console industry.
Microsoft launched its third generation gaming console and the successor to the Xbox 360, the Xbox One, on November 22 this year. Similarly, Sony also launched the much-awaited PlayStation 4 (or PS4) on November 15. Both the companies reported strong sales - both the Xbox One and PS4 sold over 1 million units each within 24 hours of their market launch. Subsequently, Microsoft reported that it sold 2 million Xbox One units within 18 days of launch while Sony reported selling 2.1 million units of PS4 as of December 1.
"I believe we both sold everything we made. Great news for the industry," tweeted Aaron Greenberg, the chief of staff for Microsoft's Xbox division.
"Awesome to see consumers supporting big time. Took five months for 360 and PS3 to both sell 2 million," Greenberg said in another tweet.
@ManfrediMiconi I believe we both sold everything we made. Great news for the industry
— Aaron Greenberg (@aarongreenberg) December 13, 2013
@talign Thanks Tal, could not agree more, awesome to see consumers supporting big time. Took 5 months for 360 and PS3 to both sell 2M. — Aaron Greenberg (@aarongreenberg) December 13, 2013
Greenberg is not the only industry executive to comment on the strong sales performance of the Xbox One and PS4. Karl Slatoff, president of Take-Two Interactive, also shared similar thought about the success of the hottest gaming consoles in the market.
"There are a lot of doubters about whether or not the console market in general is dead," said Slatoff, during a BMO Capital Markets conference. "And I think the successful launches for the PS4 and the Xbox One have proven that obviously console gaming is alive and well." Take-Two Interactive is the video game publisher behind Grand Theft Auto series.
Research firm NPD Group recently revealed data, which shows the uptick in the gaming industry. NPD Group suggests that since the launch of the Xbox One and the PS4, hardware sales has increased by 58 percent. In November this year, the overall retail video game industry revenue was around $2.74 billion, which is up by seven percent when compared November 2012.
However, even though hardware sales increased, software sales were down by 24 percent in November this year when compared to the same month of 2012.
Meanwhile, Nintendo appears to be struggling to get its latest game console - the Wii U - off the shelves. Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter recently told an audience at the Game Monetization USA Summit in San Francisco, that he expects Nintendo to sell 30 million units "or fewer" Wii U units during its lifetime. Sony, Pachter said, may sell up to 120 million units of PS4 during its lifetime while Microsoft may manage to sell 90 to 110 million Xbox One units.
