https://www.ign.com/articles/75-of-xbox-series-owners-are-series-s-owners-leaked-court-documents-reveal

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So about +17M people own the S model.  

There was a thread here recently stating if the S model is still needed; I guess this definitely answers the question; yes MS needs the S model. It's should be no surprise that MS isn't planning on releasing a pro model and leaning towards digital only consoles. It's clear that Xbox consumers prefer digital and cheaper price over hardware. 

Ironic that MS released the most powerful console yet majority of their console sales is the weaker model. So I wonder how this will affect MS's strategy for next gen.

MS should forget making an X slim mid-gen and make an S slim-mid-gen instead of just a black version (or make both).  A series S with similar size of the slim PS2 would be something I'd want to pick up. 

Also makes me wonder how many PS5 owners have the digital-only model.

Thoughts?

This is a mere snapshot in time, but surprising. If Series S consistently outsells Series X by a notable margin, it will reinforce that a lot of console gamers don't care much about specs. Wii and Switch are potatoes but sell immensely well.

That does not suggest consumers prefer the S or digital-only consoles. The S has previously been the only console readily availible during holiday rushes which is directly related to higher demand for the Series X

The first years of the Series were marked by drought of stocks in the prime offering of the Series X meaning the sells were obviously gonna tanged towards the Series S heavily. However, from what we see in market where the X is readily available, the Series X outsells the S model so this leaked document doesn't mean anything other than what was pretty obvious.

I would have guessed less than 50% it's no wonder they have the mandate in place. The joke use to always be your Nintendo console was your 2nd console after your main console, I wonder if the Series S has actually made the Series S your 2nd console where the Switch or PS5 is your main console.

Makes sense to me, if I were to buy an Xbox I would definitely get the $300 S model vs the $500 X model.

I don’t think the average gamer can see any noticeable difference in the visuals or performance of games on Series S, PS5 or Series X. It’s really only the hardcore gaming enthusiasts and tech junkies that can tell the difference.

...but it does. Numbers don't lie.

How do you know that the series X outsells the S model? Did MS release that data? If you can please link me I'd love to read it and it may change my view on this.

I wonder how many people here bought the S model over the X simply because the S was more readily available? (I wouldn't mind seeing a poll of that actually). 

I can understand maybe a small percentage bought it because it was the only model available. But personally, I think that the majority of Series S owners still bought it because that was their chosen console model (they were satisfied with the spec and the price), not because the X wasn't available.  And if X model suddenly starts growing in sales is maybe because new owners just want the X model now and everybody that wanted the S model already bought it and nobody wants it anymore. 

We can speculate many things as how these sales came to be but I rather believed more consumers purchased their product of choice rather than because it was their only option.

As for the generic parents on holiday shopping, they likely bought the S because it was the cheaper option and don't care about the specs.  When I worked in retail, the lower models (core and arcade) of the Xbox360 sold out much faster than the pro models so its safe to say that the lower price tag plays a huge part. This was also the same for the Nintendo 2DS.

I'm also sure a lot more X models are selling now, especially with Starfield released.  I would love to see an updated chart of this from MS a few years down the road.

Maybe looking back, they should have pulled a Sony and done what they did with the PS3. Release a digital-only X for $299.99, take a massive hit on hardware, then recoup with Gamepass subs. If anyone could do it, it's Microsoft, as we've seen via the buyouts. Could have potentially changed the entire console race.

I own both, but only use the S. It's much smaller and doesn't take up much space.

The ratio will have shifted in the past 1.5 years but this does show that for the first couple years that the Series S helped them when stock shortages were a huge issue. Going forward though I expect that its appeal will continuously decline as demanding games run increasingly rough on it.

Those people care more of course but I think the average gamer will increasingly notice going forward with the cross-gen period largely over now. While Immortals of Aveum is a uniquely bad example currently as this decade goes on more and more demanding games will look really rough on the Series S.