The new Xbox One is proving to be more popular than the Sony PlayStation 4 with this weekend’s Black Friday sales in the USA giving the Microsoft console a big lead running into Xmas with Xbox and Nintendo now holding 61% share of the lucrative US market.
The Xbox One dominated the rankings at Walmart and Target, coming in No. 1 with a 31 percent share even though it had the highest purchase price at $499.
Also proving popular ahead of the PlayStation 4 was the old Xbox which has been discounted out with the unit now selling for $180 at retailers?
Microsoft’s older Xbox 360 console, which captured a 30 percent share was being sold for$99 at Walmart. Meanwhile, Sony’s PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 tied for third with a 15 percent share each. The PS3 sold for $149 at Walmart and $199 at Target while the PS4 sold for $399 at both chains.
The news isn’t entirely bad for Sony as the Company is struggling to meet manufacturing demand despite having over a year to build up supply.
The new PlayStation 4, was launched on Nov. 22, one week ahead of the Xbox One.
The Nintendo Wii U console came in a distant fifth place with 6 percent market share. It sold for $299 at Walmart and $275 at Target while Nintendo’s older Wii console was sixth at 1 percent market share, selling for $99 at Walmart and $129 at Target.
Together, the Microsoft consoles had 61 percent of the market, and the next-generation consoles (the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One) had a total of 46 percent of the market.
Meanwhile, Call of Duty: Ghosts was the No. 1 selling game by a large margin, based on the chart from InfoScout. Of those who bought a console, 85 percent said they plan to purchase two or more video games during the upcoming holiday period.
About 80 percent of consumers said they purchased their machine as a gift, but 10 percent admitted they would likely open it up before Christmas.
The survey was based on about 83,000 shopping receipts from about 3,000 people on Black Friday, which was about double the normal shopping trips that InfoScout tracks in a day.
