NPD December 2016 Sales Results, Results Ranked by Revenue (Hardware Now, Software Later)

[Rangers]

Lazy NPD post...

PS4 won December.

But MS threw some caveats, PS4 was down YoY, XBO was best selling over last 6 months of 2016, and XBO had best month ever.

If we assume MS statement was strictly related to hardware and not anything else. Which is extremely likely.

XBo's prior best was 1376k, so >that.

PS4 did 1582k last Dec, so <that.

I had XBO just barely ahead for the last 5 months of 2016 before December. In fact by just 17k, noting that at least November NPD detail were rounded numbers (July, Aug, Sep, Oct were Aqua numbers, so probably pretty exact). So it would appear PS4 won just by the barest margin.

If we assume the prior four months were exact numbers. Nov was 1.1 PS4 and 1.0 XBO. Lets take worst case rounding, that actual Nov results were XBO 1.04 and PS4 1.06. That gives us another 80k to play with in Dec. So PS4 won by theoretical maximums anywhere from 1 console, to ~97k.

Not much to say except I continue to be surprised at how little PS4 Pro moved the needle (not nearly as surprised though since last month set the trend). And a new high is a good month for Xbox, I wonder why Nov was lackluster then? MS made big marketing/price push in Dec?

 

[Deleted member 11852]

But MS threw some caveats, PS4 was down YoY, XBO was best selling over last 6 months of 2016, and XBO had best month ever.

Microsoft commented on PS4 sales?

 

[mrcorbo]

Microsoft commented on PS4 sales?

Indirectly. They said that they were the only console up YoY which someone extrapolated to mean that PS4 was down YoY, but worded it in such a way to imply that MS said it.

MS's exact quote was:

December was the biggest month ever for Xbox One sales in the U.S. , and Xbox One was the only console with year over year growth.

And here's the other one:

In addition, Xbox One was the top-selling console over the second half of 2016, following the announcement of Xbox One S at E3.

 

[chris1515]

PS4 is down year to year on December like in November but not good bundle this year in US...

Next year with Battlefront 2, Read Dead Redemption 2 and Destiny 2 it will be much better...

 

[Deleted member 11852]

PS4 is down year to year on December like in November but not good bundle this year in US...

Maybe lack of PS4 Pro availability. If you want a PS4 Pro and you can't get one (shortages still appear widespread) you either settle for something you don't want, or you wait. 2017 Q1 sales may reveal if that's the case, assuming Sony can fill the voided channels sufficiently well to sate any demand.

 

[chris1515]

Maybe lack of PS4 Pro availability. If you want a PS4 Pro and you can't get one (shortages still appear widespread) you either settle for something you don't want, or you wait. 2017 Q1 sales may reveal if that's the case, assuming Sony can fill the voided channels sufficiently well to sate any demand.

Here no PS4 Pro on Amazon in France, Germany, shortage in Switzerland, Japan, Luxembourg. In Switzerland they receive only launch PS4 Pro. I need to wait to have one PS4 Pro...

 

[chris1515]

For Malaysia no PS4 Pro before March...

 

[Deleted member 11852]

I wonder how many they had for launch.. other than 'not enough'.

 

[tuna]

Sweden seems to have enough pros.

Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk

 

[iroboto]

No YoY growth is not terrible for Sony though either. They are the market leaders, saturation is much higher for them. In order to continually penetrate more, prices need to move. As long as profits are good, I think that's a better indication for them at the moment.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

'Penetrate'. heh. heh. heh. :|

 

[djskribbles]

No YoY growth is not terrible for Sony though either. They are the market leaders, saturation is much higher for them. In order to continually penetrate more, prices need to move. As long as profits are good, I think that's a better indication for them at the moment.

Plus MS has been very aggressive with pricing for the second half of the year. People in the US are more likely to jump back on the XB train and MS likely stole some of Sony's marketshare (at least in the US).
Even if Sony sold slightly less in the second half of 2016, they were likely far more profitable.

I realize that this is an NPD thread, but despite being slightly down YoY over the holidays, they up YoY WW. And correct me if I'm wrong, but they also had their best sales year selling 17.5M, up slightly from last year.

I think part of the reason that the XB1S has been so successful is their marketing. I can't count how many people I've seen that think the XB1S is a true 4K gaming machine, more powerful than the PS4 or comparable to the PS4Pro. Must be mistaking it with Scorpio.

 

[Rangers]

The numbers finally come in

http://www.windowscentral.com/xbox-playstation-neck-and-neck-npd-dec-2016

1,568,000 PS4 (238k Pro)
1,511,000 Xbox One

Strong for both IMO. Record for XBO. Pretty close to record for PS4. I have the PS4's high as 1582k for Dec 2015.

It's kinda weird they had lackluster November then bounced back with very big December. Ended up about normal for the two month period.

Still stunning how poor Pro is doing. MS better either differentiate Scorpio better and/or message it better to avoid that fate.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Still stunning how poor Pro is doing. MS better either differentiate Scorpio better and/or message it better to avoid that fate.

Only if you think performance is the thing that shifts consoles. You do, that is why you're stunned. Frankly I am surprised the premium performance market is that high and this is pent up demand in the short tail after launch. In six months I expect that to dwindle further relative to the price conscious PS4 Slim.

MS better either differentiate Scorpio better and/or message it better to avoid that fate.

No amount of messaging will make people buy a more expensive product that they don't want.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Still stunning how poor Pro is doing. MS better either differentiate Scorpio better and/or message it better to avoid that fate.

Unless they can message it as the next gen, it won't sell in volumes. It's a premium product for a small niche of the sector.

The right way to look at Pro sales isn't, "they're low," but "Sony just made a load of money reselling PS4s to their existing customers that they otherwise wouldn't have made." And also, "oh, so gamers aren't really that interested in a more powerful console after all, until next-gen."

 

[Silent_Buddha]

The numbers finally come in

http://www.windowscentral.com/xbox-playstation-neck-and-neck-npd-dec-2016

1,568,000 PS4 (238k Pro)
1,511,000 Xbox One

Strong for both IMO. Record for XBO. Pretty close to record for PS4. I have the PS4's high as 1582k for Dec 2015.

It's kinda weird they had lackluster November then bounced back with very big December. Ended up about normal for the two month period.

Still stunning how poor Pro is doing. MS better either differentiate Scorpio better and/or message it better to avoid that fate.

It's stunning in the same way that a Ford Focus RS sells less than a base Ford Focus. The only differentiating factors are faster performance and a higher price tag. You still get the same base experience with either vehicle. Not everyone desires faster performance at a higher price.

PS4 and PS4-P are the first consoles where you get the exact same base experience with either console, but the higher priced model offers better performance.

It probably also didn't help that Sony really messed up with the initial batch of product where it wasn't uncommon for a title to perform worse on the PS4-P over the PS4 albeit at greater resolution. Hopefully Sony's gotten all that sorted out. One of my friends stopped using his PS4-P in favor of using his launch PS4 due to this. I've heard things have gotten better so I'll probably find that he's using the PS4-P more once I get back to the US.

Shortages at some locations around the world probably didn't help much either. But while some may think Sony should have started with higher production, I think it was a smart move. People that want one will get one regardless of whether they have to wait another month or two. But demand for the PS4-P is going to be far higher at launch than it will be at any other point during it's lifetime as long as the PS4-S continues to be sold.

Regards,
SB

 

[DuckThor Evil]

Only if you think performance is the thing that shifts consoles. You do, that is why you're stunned. Frankly I am surprised the premium performance market is that high and this is pent up demand in the short tail after launch. In six months I expect that to dwindle further relative to the price conscious PS4 Slim.

I think that the Pro sales are just fine, at least when factoring in shortages. If they can keep it in stock, I expect it to get a larger piece of the pie in the future outside of the holiday' crazy deals season and I expect it to become more and more appealing anyway as time goes by with the 4K TV base growing larger and hopefully the Pro patches becoming even better.

 

[Rangers]

Only if you think performance is the thing that shifts consoles.

This machine's performance is artificially hampered.
Speaking of, I remember a lot of posts when Xbox beat PS4 a few months this year that people were waiting for Pro instead of buying PS4 as the reason. Now Pro isn't attractive at all? Ok...more hypocrisy.

I guess the hampering of performance is what's hampering sales. I also think people understand Scorpio is more powerful so they are waiting, is a possibility that can explain some portion of the results (who knows what portion, it could be small).

Anyways, I can admit (again) I was wrong (so far) about Pro. I literally thought it would be 80-90% of PS4 sales immediately. I didn't see why people would choose the worse console for just $100 less (when you are talking 300 vs 400). I guess I underestimated the brakes put on the Pro' performance's effects, and consumers.

I agree with that post that says Pro should become more attractive over time, too, though.

Just to put a number on it. Pro was about 15% of PS4's sales in December.

PS4 pro wasn't massively sold out like the NES classic, but spot shortages could have hurt it during the holidays. I wonder if the percentage can greatly improve in January.

 

[djskribbles]

This machine's performance is artificially hampered.
Speaking of, I remember a lot of posts when Xbox beat PS4 a few months this year that people were waiting for Pro instead of buying PS4 as the reason. Now Pro isn't attractive at all? Ok...more hypocrisy.

No one said Pro isn't attractive at all; we're saying it appeals to a relatively niche market. A lot of the people that wanted a Pro probably pre-ordered or bought it on launch.

Plus you must not have read the posts saying that the holiday months are VERY price conscious months. It wasn't "just $100 difference", it was a $250 w/game vs $400 with no game. That's pretty much half the price.

Because of the price difference, and the fact that the Pro is slightly under-stocked, the 15% number doesn't really paint the real picture for your typical base/Pro split.

Pro definitely hindered sales prior to release, but probably by not a significant amount. It's not like XB1 significantly outsold PS4 in the 2H of 2016 either.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

This machine's performance is artificially hampered.
Speaking of, I remember a lot of posts when Xbox beat PS4 a few months this year that people were waiting for Pro instead of buying PS4 as the reason. Now Pro isn't attractive at all? Ok...more hypocrisy.

It's only hypocrisy if it's the same people changing their tune. If it's different people presenting different viewpoints, or a slightly different argument, it's not hypocrisy. One possible argument could be that people were waiting for PS4 Pro, but now they've seen it they aren't that interested.

I didn't see why people would choose the worse console for just $100 less (when you are talking 300 vs 400). I guess I underestimated the brakes put on the Pro' performance's effects, and consumers.

It's $100 more but not $100 better in most people's minds.

Just to put a number on it. Pro was about 15% of PS4's sales in December.

Perhaps subjectively, PS4Pro is only 15% better than PS4 and that's why it's getting 15% sales?