While this is to take with a grain of salt (I mean the source :)).

I do not think it would be surprising to have both console very close in term of pre-orders at this point of time (in NA/UK). Microsoft PR fiasco is behind and they did a lot of to fix that.

Of course for Sony fans it is not the case and they hate Microsoft even more but I think it is actually just them..

For the Xbox fans there everything is back to normal and the console is even more attractive than before (with the different new features and games announce in the past months). I would also add that casual "gamers (I hate this term) and families in general (again, other than fanboys) are certainly looking forward for what the Xbox One has to offer.

We will see in November anyway. But I think it will be an great launch for both console; interesting time ahead :)

Edit: And for the "financial/accountinh" reason; it is obvious with their Q results being shared in 4 days that they are not divulging anything regarding their performance yet... This is quite understandable.

Edit: Added NA/UK :)

I would not be surprised to see Xbox One with over 1M.

again you are talking about sony fans, geez.

and no, it would be surprising, because Sony is launching in 32 countries while MS is launching in just 13. meaning realistically sony has much more consoles ready for launch than MS. and since the PS4 is sold out most places it wouldnt make sense to say MS has the same number of pre-orders since MS have less consoles for launch. 

as carl said, im calling bullshit as well.

I don't doubt MS has 1.5+ million pre-orders, but I doubt they have as much as Sony has.

I'm sure Xbox One will launch succesfully in USA, and even surpassing ps4 launch there. Worldwide, meanwhile,  is just different, sure Xbox One have overcome a lot but i still think that PS4 will sell a lot more than Xbox One. 

Related on topic, if Microsoft have 1'5 million pre orders worlwide too, they should just say that, and no problem, but don't make comparisons with an official statement made by Sony in August with a comment made in Reddit by an anounymos person where you don't even say the actual numbers....

I don't doubt that they have that many at all. The fact of the matter is that 1.5 or 2 million consoles isn't that big of a deal anymore. Back in the day yes. We are in the age where almost every household in the U.S alone has a console. Games used to be great sellers if they passed that million mark. Now unless they get up into the 3 to 5 million range are they truly considered big successes. Both systems have huge markets and followers. It's more a matter of how many consoles they can make than it is about how many people they can find to buy one. For both companies the systems will sell out instantly, it comes down to who can get more consoles out in that time period.

I'm talking about Sony fans, deal with it, geez...

On the OP, I need to clarify my point; you are right, 32 countries vs 13 is going to make a difference. I was talking mainly about North America and part of the Europe (esp. UK) where people believe (correct me if I'm wrong) Microsoft is going to sell way less console than Sony.

"For accounting reasons" Sure.

Maybe they'll have more now since Target had to cancel a lot for dem delays.

Well, technically speaking, they really have just as many pre-order numbers as PS4.

There is ONE NUMBER of preorders for PS4 and ONE NUMBER of preorders for Xbone.

That's one number for each system. ;)

Apart from that: BS.