The folks at the NPD Group have certainly given us quite the well of info to pull from as of late, as we now have even more data to gauge the current standings of both the Xbox and PlayStation powerhouses.
As always, two competitors can take the exact same data and spin it to support either side they choose. For example, the Microsoft camp is touting NPD’s number as a huge victory for their games library. Yusuf Mehdi (who is Corporate VP of Marketing, Strategy and Business at Xbox) recently touted the figures on Xbox Wire, calling them “gratifying.” Mehdi states the January sales numbers revealed that Xbox “…sold the most games across all console platforms in January with 2.27 million units sold, making up 47 percent of software market share… with U.S. consumers purchasing an average of 2.7 games per console since launch.”
Of course, that’s only half the story, as Sony tells a very different tale. In a recent interview posted to the PlayStation.Blog, Marketing VP John Koller pointed to the success of the PS4 console as significant, with it clocking in at almost double the Xbox One. Koller calls the support “fantastic” and maintains that Sony will remain the #1 U.S. brand moving forward.
Obviously, sales numbers can fluctuate (and can also reveal totally different facts, depending on who you ask). At this point, I do have to give the current edge to the folks at Sony. However, these figures are not the only factor in why they have inched ahead in the current console war.
Tune in Monday for a special look at how Sony cemented its lead over their Microsoft competitor (and how it’s currently the PS4’s race to loose).