NPD Data for December has been released, and as expected, Sony’s PlayStation 4 was the best-selling console in the United States. Â After revealing sales figures earlier this month, it was expected that Sony would be top-selling console. Â However, not all is lost for Microsoft and the Xbox One as it appears they are slowly but surely closing the gap on the Sony and the PlayStation 4 — at least when you look at how badly they’d been beaten up in 2014 & 2015.
According to a statement from Microsoft, apparently PlayStation 4 sales actually declined year over year, while sales of the Xbox One increased in the same span. Â Sony did not issue their standard address, but that’s likely because they recently made an announcement when they revealed that the PlayStation 4 had reached over 53 million consoles sold earlier this month.
Microsoft, on the other hand, did release a statement. Â Despite lagging behind Sony in December, they say “December was the biggest month ever for Xbox One sales in the U.S. , and Xbox One was the only console with year over year growth.” Â Making lemonade out of lemons, Microsoft also revealed that they were the top-selling console for the second half of 2016 overall. Â Which was likely attributable to the very well-recieved Xbox One S following its E3 reveal.
2017 is gonna start out with a whimper, but quickly ramp up. Â Nintendo is expected to release their long-awaited Nintendo Switch in March. Â Sony will look to push consumers towards their higher-end PlayStation 4 Pro, while Microsoft will reveal and release the Xbox Scorpio.
While the PlayStation 4 Pro is a known quantity, and has seen a tepid reception. Â Both Nintendo’s Switch and Microsoft’s Xbox Scorpio could shape up to be any number of things and start pushing the needle in a new direction if recieved well by consumers.