Microsoft’s new Xbox One S debuted this month. The older model had a pretty good sendoff last month.
According to data-tracking form The NPD Group, the Xbox One was the best-selling console for July 2016. Xbox marketing head Mike Nichols spoke with GamesBeat and expressed excitement for Xbox’s performance:
We’re honored that Xbox One was the best-selling console in the U.S. in July, “ Nichols said, “and that total gaming hours on Xbox consoles globally were up 18 percent over last year, reaching 1.55 billion hours.”
It’s most likely that heavy discounts on the VCR-sized original contributed to the sales spike. We will obviously have to wait till September to see how well the Xbox did this month. Judging by the reception of the Xbox One S, however, it is reasonable to say that Microsoft will have another good month. Nichols suggested as much to GamesBeat.
“Following its release last week, the 2TB launch edition of Xbox One S sold out in the U.K. and is nearly sold out in the U.S.,” said Nichols. “Later this month on August 23, we will launch 500GB and 1TB options for Xbox One S at $299 and $349, respectively. We’re excited about all the fun gamers are having on Xbox One and all the new releases we’ll be bringing them this holiday.”
While Microsoft can claim the month in console sales, it is still not much of a win. July and August are typically slow sales months for consoles. It’s likely that the number of units sold were not that high. Also, the July sales will not do much to reduce the lead Sony’s PS4 has overall over the Xbox One.
It will be interesting, however, to see how Sony will respond. Their upgraded console, the PlayStation Neo, is expected to be unveiled in September. Perhaps a strong August from Microsoft combined with the announcement would spur Sony to offer discounts of their own.
