All purpose Sales and Sales Rumors and Anecdotes [2017 Edition]

[goonergaz]

PS4 is always in stock and had sold around 67 million units at the end of September. Stock availability isn't really useful unless you also know manufacturing volume and how those are distributed globally.

means there's more supply than demand.
That doesn't mean there isn't high demand.
ie.
Low supply and moderate demand can lead to shortages (i.e. iPhone X)
and high supply and high demand (ie. iPhone 6)
6 will sell more in the same time frames.

This is the first console launch for some time where there are no shortages and that off the back off MS stating 'super high demand'. We've also had over a year of pent up anticipation to help boost the launch...also Christmas is around the corner!

I really think this console has done ok at best, due to the usual shortages at launch we have a situation where people are trying to make a quick buck and also ensure they get a machine...I think the dust will settle very quickly.

 

[dobwal]

This is the first console launch for some time where there are no shortages and that off the back off MS stating 'super high demand'. We've also had over a year of pent up anticipation to help boost the launch...also Christmas is around the corner!

I really think this console has done ok at best, due to the usual shortages at launch we have a situation where people are trying to make a quick buck and also ensure they get a machine...I think the dust will settle very quickly.

There are shortages of the Scorpio edition on amazon. The SE wasnt a pre order only product as it's the top selling console this month for amazon and currently can only be had on Amazon through private sellers starting at $650.

 

[Goodtwin]

I really think this console has done ok at best, due to the usual shortages at launch we have a situation where people are trying to make a quick buck and also ensure they get a machine...I think the dust will settle very quickly.

I am of the opinion that the majority of early Xbox One X adopters were also early Xbox One adopters. They were good with spending $500 on a new Xbox back in 2013, and they lined up to do buy an updated model in 2017. Unless there is a sustained increase in Xbox One models over the following 12 months, then there is no reason to believe this mid gen refresh did much to change Microsoft's presence in the consoles market. The platform has under performed and I do not see the new model changing the situation. Yes, they will move a couple million units pretty quickly, but after that I believe the X will sell one for every four Xbox One S models, and the two to one PS4 to Xbox One sales ratio will continue.

 

[Rangers]

Yeah imagine this:

Xbox One 2013: notably underpowered compared to the direct competition, Kinect, 499

Xbox One X 2017, 499, very powerful compared to competition...

Much better situation.

Also factor in inflation, the US Gov say annual inflation is 2.2% in 2017. I think govt inflation figures are always significantly lower than reality, but if we take 4 years at 2.2% annually $499 in 2013 is $544 in 2017. Or, Xbox One X $499 is equivalent to a $459 console in 2013.

 

[Tkumpathenurple]

Yeah, the X1X is in quite a difficult position: compared to its direct competitor, it's more powerful, but more expensive, and produces very similar results.

The transition to 7nm should shrink the gap in manufacturing cost, as the X1X doesn't have much more silicon than the PS4Pro, and a shrink may well allow for a cheaper cooling solution, but it will always contain an extra 4GB of memory, which doesn't come cheap.

I really think they've made a mistake by not including an updated CPU architecture, as this has relegated the console to forever be mid-gen, rather than the mid-gen/early next-gen that some people here were hoping for.

 

[Deleted member 86764]

The thread's title suggests "Anecdotes", so I thought I'd wade into the conversation with some anecdotal information of my own for the Christmas season.

I have two boys and my partner has kids too. It just so happens that they all quite like Nintendo and the WiiU has been a bit of a hit around these parts (they all play the PS4 more mind you), so this Christmas I thought I'd buy my boys a Nintendo Switch each and my partner's girls a Switch too.

To summarise; I've bought three Nintendo Switches for Christmas this year. I'm not sure what Sony or Microsoft can do to complete with situations like this.

Also, a little bit more subjective information; I don't see myself buying a new console (a proper one *ahem*) until we get beyond simply increases in graphics. The games are exactly as they were last generation (COD, Forza, Uncharted, etc.), COD is still exactly the same with big static unchanging backgrounds. I want to see the same game with fully destructible environments (not like Battlefield with things breaking into daft looking segments), I'd like splintering wood being blasted into enemies and metal warping realistically with grenade throws. I imagine this'd require a large CPU increase and I realise that I might be unrealistic with my expectations, but oh well.

 

[iroboto]

Wow. You're back! Lol. You've been gone a long time.

Yes. They would be massive CPU increase. At the very least memory would also have to jump several amounts as well.

 

[Nesh]

The thread's title suggests "Anecdotes", so I thought I'd wade into the conversation with some anecdotal information of my own for the Christmas season.

I have two boys and my partner has kids too. It just so happens that they all quite like Nintendo and the WiiU has been a bit of a hit around these parts (they all play the PS4 more mind you), so this Christmas I thought I'd buy my boys a Nintendo Switch each and my partner's girls a Switch too.

To summarise; I've bought three Nintendo Switches for Christmas this year. I'm not sure what Sony or Microsoft can do to complete with situations like this.

Also, a little bit more subjective information; I don't see myself buying a new console (a proper one *ahem*) until we get beyond simply increases in graphics. The games are exactly as they were last generation (COD, Forza, Uncharted, etc.), COD is still exactly the same with big static unchanging backgrounds. I want to see the same game with fully destructible environments (not like Battlefield with things breaking into daft looking segments), I'd like splintering wood being blasted into enemies and metal warping realistically with grenade throws. I imagine this'd require a large CPU increase and I realise that I might be unrealistic with my expectations, but oh well.

Three Switches?

You sound like an outlier. Thats a good anecdote. You have done a good job for this thread

 

[DieH@rd]

Great anecdote indeed.

 

[BRiT]

Heres an even better anectdote thats on the flip side of things...

Coworkers in-laws are going to buy his 3 daughters 1 switch total. They do this Christmas exchange 2 weeks early. The in-laws are unaware it comes with 0 games and only 1 real controller for the more complex games. Coworker had to argue with his wife over that fact. Its now up to the wife what they will do. Will they let the gift go without picking up any games and without getting another set of controllers for 2 more weeks? They don't want to have the grandparents have to spend another $130 just to get 1 game and an additional controller as well. They don't want to give the girls any other part of their Christmas gifts early.

 

[Deleted member 86764]

Wow. You're back! Lol. You've been gone a long time.

Ha yes, I had a bit of a change in my personal circumstance and got a little frustrated with the occasional sarcasm here...

Heres an even better anectdote thats on the flip side of thungs...

Coworkers in-laws are going to buy his 3 daughters 1 switch total. They do this Christmas exchange 2 weeks early. The in-laws are unaware it comes with 0 games and only 1 real controller for the more complex games. Coworker had to argue with his wife over that fact. Its now up to the wife what they will do. Will they let the gift go without picking up any games and without getting another set of controllers for 2 more weeks? They don't want to have the grandparents have to spend another $130 just to get 1 game and an additional controller as well. They don't want to give the girls any other part of their Christmas gifts early.

The thing is with handheld consoles is that they can be quite personal devices, right? Much like a mobile phone.

In a hypothetical scenario where there are two young siblings and they get a Switch for Xmas, now I'm fairly sure that they'd be happy with their present, but there's a very good chance that they'd want one each. Would you not agree? And while I'd agree that it's possible for the same view to present itself for a PS1X, I would think to a lesser magnitude, as a Switch could be used on a school bus, aeroplane, etc. I would hazard a guess that there are more than just my children getting more than one Switch around the Xmas tree this year.

Hey, I don't care much for Nintendo games myself - god, I found Titanfall 2 too roboty (for a want of a better adjective) - I'm just giving the perspective of a parent.

 

[BRiT]

I disagree.

Coworker and wife have agreed to establish a rule that the Switch will never be undocked. That solves their concern that the girls will break it or take it to school and not pay attention in class. It also makes it so it truly remains a family device as no single girl will have it alone.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

That's an outlier too. It's sold as a handheld and priced as a personal console. Turning it into a multiplayer docked console only is going to incur extra cost. Can't really be avoided.

 

[AlNom]

So are the outliers balanced now? All is right in the galaxy?

and got a little frustrated with the occasional sarcasm here...

tsss.....

 

[goonergaz]

There are shortages of the Scorpio edition on amazon. The SE wasnt a pre order only product as it's the top selling console this month for amazon and currently can only be had on Amazon through private sellers starting at $650.

Available right now in the UK on the MS store...no shortages here, even for a 'limited special edition'

Yeah imagine this:

Xbox One 2013: notably underpowered compared to the direct competition, Kinect, 499

Xbox One X 2017, 499, very powerful compared to competition...

Much better situation.

Not really, no. Maybe better for Xbox customers...but this isn't a new generation, just a refresh.

Also factor in inflation, the US Gov say annual inflation is 2.2% in 2017. I think govt inflation figures are always significantly lower than reality, but if we take 4 years at 2.2% annually $499 in 2013 is $544 in 2017. Or, Xbox One X $499 is equivalent to a $459 console in 2013.

It doesn't work like that or we'd all be paying ~£1000* for new consoles at launch.

*figure pulled out of my arse, but I think you get my point

 

[MrFox]

The software side is also quite different compared to 2013.

For hardware, sales estimates for xb1x are less than the increased deficit this year (if we cumulate npd months and speculate the rest of the world). The hardware sales for 2017 or 2018 are not expected to be any better than 2016. So market shares are status quo for the rest of the generation. Except nintendo, of course, who shouldn't have been underestimated.

Even if they sell a million more xbox than last year, they end up with 9M less than ps4 sales per year instead of 10M less per year. And on the surface it looks like most mid-gen sales are upgraders. So I am puzzled by all the publications jumping up and down with crazy hyperboles about xb1x sales. Mid-gen remains either a niche, or canibalizing the normal sku. It's hard to see any possibility of dramatic shift in user base until next gen.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

I think one of the interesting dynamics that XBO-X is introducing is a disruption in where 3rd party games are played.

I've seen a fair number of people (here and in RL, some of whom didn't previously own an XBO and gamed on PS4) that have gotten a XBO-X purely to play cross platform console games on.

I'm not sure whether that will be a something significant or not. But it does potentially get X amount of consumer dollars that were previously going to Sony now potentially going to Microsoft even if the overall console user base (PlayStation + Xbox) doesn't expand because of it.

Regards,
SB

 

[goonergaz]

I think one of the interesting dynamics that XBO-X is introducing is a disruption in where 3rd party games are played.

I've seen a fair number of people (here and in RL, some of whom didn't previously own an XBO and gamed on PS4) that have gotten a XBO-X purely to play cross platform console games on.

I'm not sure whether that will be a something significant or not. But it does potentially get X amount of consumer dollars that were previously going to Sony now potentially going to Microsoft even if the overall console user base (PlayStation + Xbox) doesn't expand because of it.

Regards,
SB

Yeah, there will always be those people - a very small segment of the gaming community - that will own a console just to play the best version of a particular game.

It's really small though...especially at the entry price.

 

[iroboto]

Yeah, there will always be those people - a very small segment of the gaming community - that will own a console just to play the best version of a particular game.

It's really small though...especially at the entry price.

But could also represent a large percentage loss of revenue.

80/20 rule of Pareto charts. If 20% of the consumers make up 80% of the purchases then losing those hardcore people who are willing to spend is a major hit to your bottom line.

 

[MrFox]

But could also represent a large percentage loss of revenue.

80/20 rule of Pareto charts. If 20% of the consumers make up 80% of the purchases then losing those hardcore people who are willing to spend is a major hit to your bottom line.

If there was such a trend we would have seen something with ps4 vs xb1, but the sales of third party are mostly aligning with user base despite seeing a few people online having both consoles, who would supposedly buy 3rd party on ps4.