Amazon US November monthly bestsellers and general Amazon-based discussion.

[binary solo]

Shadow1980 said:

celador said:
I would be surprised, and disappointed, if PS4 didn't get over a million this month. X1 did it comfortably last year, and PS4 has arguably more going for it this year.

Oh, I think it'll handily breach a million units. The PS4 sold 838k units last November at $400 and with no major new bundles or third-party marketing exclusives. The PS4 is now at $350 and has major bundles and marketing exclusives, namely Black Ops III and Battlefront, arguably the two biggest third-party titles of the quarter. It wouldn't surprise me if the PS4 cleared the 1.2 million mark, which is about what the XBO did last November and is about a 43% increase from the PS4's own performance last November. It would be a sales disappointment if it couldn't at least match what the XBO did last November, and it would be a disaster if it didn't clear one million.

As for the XBO, I'm expecting a huge YoY drop. It no longer has the price advantage or the bundles advantage it had last year which allowed it to suck the wind out of the PS4's sails. I think it might only sell in the 750-800k range, which would completely wipe out its YoY gains. I predicted months ago that the XBO would by down YoY once December's NPD numbers rolled around, and with MS seemingly being unwilling to issue another price cut (likely because they can't afford it yet), Sony will be the ones taking the wind out of MS's sales this go-around.

When did MS announce its temporary price drop last year? Was it in October or November? AC:U launched in November and the ACU bundle was $350 from the outset, but how soon before the AC:U bundle did MS announce?

The problem this time around is that MS knows a temporary price cut is untennable. They know if they move to $299 then it has to be a permanent move because if they move back to $350 in the new year their sales will plummet horriby. So, in terms of afforability of price movement they can't just think in terms of this final month and a half of the year. While it would have a much lower effect it might help for a permanent price drop to $329. That might be affordable as a permanent move and it does give Xb one a price advantage over PS4. And everyone knows Xb one can't be competitive against PS4 at the same price. This will be strongly driven home to everyone if PS4 winds up winning October NPD, which is a far more likely scenario than anyone thought possible just a few months ago.