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GfK has gone on the record to MCV to report on the success of the Xbox One X’s week one sales in the UK. Dorian Bloch, business group director, at the market research company, told MCV exclusively that Xbox One X unit sales last week amounted to the 10th best UK console launch of all time, by comparison the PS4 Pro ranks 20th.
Xbox One as a category was boosted to its fourth biggest week to date, in unit terms. It was outdone by the week of the original console’s launch and the 2014 and 2015’s Black Friday events.
That piece of information shows that while Microsoft stated that pre-orders of the new console outstripped that of the original Xbox One console, the number of units it sold in the UK was less when launch day rolled around.
Rather than reflecting upon the success or popularity of the new One X hardware, it most likely shows that Microsoft was unable to get sufficient units of its new device onto shelves – or rather straight into consumer hands, as there was minimal, if any, stock available to buy that hadn’t already been pre-ordered – as we reported previously. Whether that translates into an ongoing stock shortage as we move through the key Christmas season remains to be seen, but looks likely.
In terms of proportions, the Xbox One X accounted for 66 per cent of Xbox One console units sold that week, and 45 per cent of all home consoles. That compares favourably to 64 per cent and 37 per cent for the PS4 Pro’s launch week.
In terms of revenue the One X was on a par with the launch of the Xbox 360, and below only the PS4, PS3 and Xbox One in the all-time rankings for week one revenue generation. With the latter two providing a better comparison as they also had over £400 average price points at launch.
Microsoft UK should be very happy with the success of the launch, likely stock shortages aside, in one of its key territories for the brand. It looks as though the One X’s superior hardware and heavier marketing campaign has done the job required, which is not only moving the initial allocation but hopefully creating a desire for forthcoming shipments.
MOVING ON(E)
Elsewhere, Xbox boss Phil Spencer has already touched upon a future where new game releases could be Xbox One X specific.
"Developers want to reach the largest audience possible," he told The Telegraph. “At some point in the future are there pieces of hardware that become old enough that they fall out of the ecosystem? We see that today; we’re not manufacturing Xbox 360 and yet there are 360 games that do very well right now on our platform.
"We’ll talk more about this and frankly keep our ears open to what customers want and developers want. But our goal right now is to give them the highest performance in the broadest market they can.
“Three or four years ago if someone made an investment in an Xbox One, they bought that they bought their library of games, I want them to feel they get a full generational use out of their console, same with the Xbox One S. [But] at some point, we see this usage and other things can drop low enough where you kind of move on to things.”
Additional reporting by Ben Parfitt.
