I know we talked about it on our show a couple of weeks ago.
I personally think Microsoft revealing the numbers now, simply because they’re potentially neck a neck or ahead of Sony would be a mistake. Again, at least to me.
It basically confirms what most suspected, that Microsoft only stopped reporting when they stopped selling well.
If they decide to report numbers now/soon, what happens then? Do they keep reporting regardless? Do they go back to not reporting once they’re being outsold by Sony later down the road?
If I were them and wanted the numbers out there to get the publicity/marketing push, I’d just leak them and then “comment” on the leaked numbers and confirm they’re real.
I know majority here don’t go based on VGChartz but they have PS5 at 18m and Xbox Series at 14m. That would be very surprising since Sony’s official numbers were at 17m+ as of December 31st so if true, they really don’t have any consoles/stock whatsoever.
I may have missed it. I don’t get to watch all of them. RIP.
That makes a lot of sense. I’d say you’re right. Although, out of curiosity…
You know those investor meetings (whatever they’re called. I think they do them live. Right?) they have every so often where they tell shareholders (or whoever it is. Can you tell I know little to nothing about this stuff yet? ) how everything at Microsoft is going? Would they have to tell an investor how many they’ve sold if one specifically asked the question?
There’s really only estimates out there regardless of who it’s from unless it comes straight from Sony and Microsoft. Sony usually gives console sales numbers every month. Microsoft hasn’t given console sales numbers in years even though I wish they would.
Sony have barely shipped consoles this year. Theyve sold like 200k in japan max in 2022 and around 600k in europe. Even with npd data we know its around 1m in usa. Thats 18.6 as a rought estimate which is around what vgcharts has (18.9)
I’ve seen my very first XSX in a retail store here in Germany. It was a single XSX and 3 or 4 XSS. When I’ve walked by the same shelf five minutes later, the XSX was already gone.
Only MS, Sony, Nintendo themselves know how many consoles they’ve sold, but they don’t know how many consoles their competitors have sold and they don’t necessarily have a grasp of the overall market on their own. Typically you want to keep these sorts of numbers secret so your competitors don’t get an advantage. Sometimes you may want to release numbers to look good for the shareholders, good PR, marketing, etc…
Anyway, this is where these market research companies come into play. For North America there is the NPD group which has been around for like 60 years and tracks a whole ton of things. They partner with retailers and said retailers let them know their sales data and NPD tracks all of that information, does analysis, trends, regional data, and other advanced metrics. NPD then sells that information to others willing to pay for it and is obviously closely guarded. This is how manufacturers, retailers, etc… get an idea of sales trends and how their competitors are doing. So they buy and sell information, and there is A LOT of money involved here. NPD releases some data to the public again for marketing purposes.
The real information is super expensive (valuable) and fiercely legally protected. I don’t even think I’ve seen a real full NPD report leaked on the internet and everything leaks on the internet.
Do we have any idea when these chip shortages could start improving? Saw an article explaining it (wait for it) could actually get even worse! Due to the restrictions on Shanghai.
Looking ahead to 2026, however, DFC Intelligence expectsMicrosoft XboxThe platform can gain 7% market share, while Sony PlayStation /Nintendowill decline by 4% and 3%, respectively.
) how everything at Microsoft is going? Would they have to tell an investor how many they’ve sold if one specifically asked the question?
