| Shadow1980 said: Looks like the Wii U will settle in at around double its 2013 baseline in the U.S. and about 35% higher in Europe. Still down YoY so far for January in Japan, though. It'll be an interesting 2014 for the system. Let's see if DKC and Mario Kart can boost it even further. The Wii U might not be doing great, but is showing signs of life. The 3DS is also up considerably over this time last year in both America and Europe, though like the Wii U it's down in Japan. While there's no indication that it's peaked yet in America and Europe, it may have already in Japan (the DS did peak earlier in Japan than it did in America and Europe). However, given that it actually sold better in September and October combined than it did in November and December combined. While December was still its best month in Japan last year, it was down considerably from Dec. 2012. Was that caused by people buying the 3DS in September and October because of Pokemon X/Y, and was that weak December the cause of a so far sub-par January? Could it rebound later this year and propel the average baseline to end up at or above the 2013 baseline? There's only one way to know, and that's to wait. As for the XBO's European sales in launch-aligned terms it's doing better than the 360 in LTD sales but it looks like it's settling into a significantly lower baseline. Without a year-long head start to benefit it, with its price going against it, and with the UK looking like they're doing a 180 in terms of PS vs. Xbox preference, the XBO might struggle against the PS4 in the region. The UK is still the best country for Xbox in the region, with the country contributing roughly a third of all 360 sales to date and about half of XBO sales so far, but that looks like it doesn't mean anything good for the brand right now. However, these are early sales, so take them with a grain of salt. In 2008 the 360 sold twice what it did in 2007, with the system doubling its LTD sales in just that one year. There's no reason to expect the XBO will keep doing current numbers, especially considering it's not yet out in all of Europe yet (it's not available in Portugal, Benelux, Scandinavia, and Eastern Europe). The XBO is still doing well in America for the time being and is still performing better than the 360, and it's neck and neck between it and the PS4. However, Xbox is a heavily regional brand and like its predecessors the majority of XBO sales are in the U.S. Nearly two-thirds of Xbox and over half of all 360 sales were in the U.S., and so far about two-thirds of XBO sales are in the U.S. as well. The PS4 is still up considerably in launch aligned terms in both Europe and the U.S., and it's still supply-limited in the latter. I have a feeling that, at least in the short term, when it is no longer constrained by supply it will take a solid lead. We also still have the Japanese launch to look forward to in several weeks, and it'll be interesting to see if it can outperform its predecessor in its native land. I think it has a good shot at it due to decreased competition from Nintendo, but Japan can be even more unpredictable than America and Europe. We'll have to wait and see. |
3 weeks of data is not enough to draw that conclusion. By your own standards that's a premature prediction. Though it is a reasonable expectation on the back of a price cut and better game library, so let's hope Wii U meets expectations for it's own sake.
As for those calling for wider roll out of Xb one, the limitation hasn't been supply ever since Europe underwhelmed in sales back in December. The limitation is language localisation of that increasingly obvious millstone arounf Xb one's neck: Kinect. If Kinect wasn't packed in with Xb one with its demand for voice recognition in so many languages MS probably would be in at least 30 countries by now, and possibly more. Kinect is such a drag on Xb one, and there's nothing about it that's core to the functionality of Xb one. It's somewhat labour saving with some features, but it's not essential.
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