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Forums - Sales Discussion - Microsoft gives market share against PlayStation

Microsoft has given market share figures against PlayStation:

Now they don't explicitly state what these figures represent but by looking at the Japanese sales numbers from Famitsu and the market share percentages Microsoft disclosed we can infer it represents console install-base for XBO+XSX vs PS4+PS5.

Microsoft state that the market share in Japan is 96/4. Famitsu latest numbers line up with this perfectly rounded to the nearest percent.

PS5+PS4 = 12,226,985 (95.7%)
XBO+XSX = 538,097 (4.3%)

So rounded to the nearest whole percent 96/4 just as Microsoft stated. If the numbers were based on just PS5 vs XSX it would be very different to this.

So now we can look at the figures MS gave for Global and EU and compare them to the numbers from VGChartz and Famitsu rounded to the nearest percent.

Global:
Microsoft: 70% PlayStation - 30% Xbox
VGChartz: 67% PlayStation - 33% Xbox

Europe:
Microsoft: 80% PlayStation - 20% Xbox
VGChartz: 75% PlayStation - 25% Xbox

Japan:
Microsoft: 96% PlayStation - 4% Xbox
Famitsu: 96% PlayStation - 4% Xbox 

So is XBO and/or XSX overtracked globally and in Europe? It's hard to say anything concrete here but sadly this is the closest we've had to official numbers for the Xbox consoles in a very long time.

Microsoft may be rounding the Global and Europe figures to the nearest 10%, though even then it would suggest a slight discrepancy with the EU numbers.



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Microsoft had previously provided install base as of the end of 2021 with Sony at 151.4 million and Xbox at 63.7 million. In order for Sony to be 151.4 million you would need to add PS5, PS4, and PS Vita together. So I would think this new data from Microsoft is including PlayStation Vita sales.

Xbox sales at the end of 2021:

  • X1: 51.3M
  • XSX|S: 11.1M
  • Combined: 62.4M

PlayStation sales at the end of 2021:

  • PS4: 116.6M
  • PS5: 17.0M
  • PSV: 15.8M
  • Combined: 149.4M

Last edited by trunkswd - on 21 February 2023

VGChartz Sales Analyst and Writer - William D'Angelo - I stream on Twitch and have my own YouTubeFollow me on Twitter @TrunksWD.

Writer of the Sales Comparison | Weekly Hardware Breakdown Top 10 | Weekly Sales Analysis | Marketshare Features, as well as daily news on the Video Game Industry.

Very Bizarre to not include Nintendo in there, but I understand what they are trying to achieve



trunkswd said:

Microsoft had previously provided install base as of the end of 2021 with Sony at 151.4 million and Xbox at 63.7 million. In order for Sony to be 151.4 million you would need to add PS5, PS4, and PS Vita together. So I would think this new data from Microsoft is including PlayStation Vita sales.

If Xbox numbers are only at 64 million either the Xbox Series or Xbox one is massively overtracked



Please excuse my (probally) poor grammar

Qwark said:
trunkswd said:

Microsoft had previously provided install base as of the end of 2021 with Sony at 151.4 million and Xbox at 63.7 million. In order for Sony to be 151.4 million you would need to add PS5, PS4, and PS Vita together. So I would think this new data from Microsoft is including PlayStation Vita sales.

If Xbox numbers are only at 64 million either the Xbox Series or Xbox one is massively overtracked

These are sales at the end of 2021. Not 2022.



VGChartz Sales Analyst and Writer - William D'Angelo - I stream on Twitch and have my own YouTubeFollow me on Twitter @TrunksWD.

Writer of the Sales Comparison | Weekly Hardware Breakdown Top 10 | Weekly Sales Analysis | Marketshare Features, as well as daily news on the Video Game Industry.

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trunkswd said:

Microsoft had previously provided install base as of the end of 2021 with Sony at 151.4 million and Xbox at 63.7 million. In order for Sony to be 151.4 million you would need to add PS5, PS4, and PS Vita together. So I would think this new data from Microsoft is including PlayStation Vita sales.

Them including Vita doesn't line up with the Japan ratio of 96/4 though. PS5+PS4 vs XSX+XBO already gets a 96/4 ratio in Japan like they state.

If you add in the over 5m sales from the Vita as well the ratio for Japan would drop below 97/3.

PS5+PS4 = 12,226,985 (95.7%)
XBO+XSX = 538,097 (4.3%)

PS5+PS4+Vita = 18,090,007 (97.1%)
XBO+XSX = 538,097 (2.9%)



Also doesn't Nintendo also make consoles or is it only wrong if Sony doesn't see them as a main competitor.



Please excuse my (probally) poor grammar

Looks like Microsoft used IDG as the source of the data. 



VGChartz Sales Analyst and Writer - William D'Angelo - I stream on Twitch and have my own YouTubeFollow me on Twitter @TrunksWD.

Writer of the Sales Comparison | Weekly Hardware Breakdown Top 10 | Weekly Sales Analysis | Marketshare Features, as well as daily news on the Video Game Industry.

Qwark said:

Also doesn't Nintendo also make consoles or is it only wrong if Sony doesn't see them as a main competitor.

It is odd Microsoft didn't include Nintendo as their marketshare would be even smaller. But I guess the main focus from the regulators has been Call of Duty, which is currently NOT on Nintendo consoles. 



VGChartz Sales Analyst and Writer - William D'Angelo - I stream on Twitch and have my own YouTubeFollow me on Twitter @TrunksWD.

Writer of the Sales Comparison | Weekly Hardware Breakdown Top 10 | Weekly Sales Analysis | Marketshare Features, as well as daily news on the Video Game Industry.

Zippy6 said:
trunkswd said:

Microsoft had previously provided install base as of the end of 2021 with Sony at 151.4 million and Xbox at 63.7 million. In order for Sony to be 151.4 million you would need to add PS5, PS4, and PS Vita together. So I would think this new data from Microsoft is including PlayStation Vita sales.

Them including Vita doesn't line up with the Japan ratio of 96/4 though. PS5+PS4 vs XSX+XBO already gets a 96/4 ratio in Japan like they state.

If you add in the over 5m sales from the Vita as well the ratio for Japan would drop below 97/3.

PS5+PS4 = 12,226,985 (95.7%)
XBO+XSX = 538,097 (4.3%)

PS5+PS4+Vita = 18,090,007 (97.1%)
XBO+XSX = 538,097 (2.9%)

Yeah good point. Not mentioning the consoles included in the marketshare figures is a bit annoying. For all we know it could be including PS2 to PS5 and OG Xbox to Xbox Series. though that would likely give PlayStation an even bigger marketshare in Japan.



VGChartz Sales Analyst and Writer - William D'Angelo - I stream on Twitch and have my own YouTubeFollow me on Twitter @TrunksWD.

Writer of the Sales Comparison | Weekly Hardware Breakdown Top 10 | Weekly Sales Analysis | Marketshare Features, as well as daily news on the Video Game Industry.