Xbox Series S Was the Best-Selling Console in India in March 2021 - Sales
by William D'Angelo , posted on 01 May 2021 / 3,631 Views
The Xbox Series S was the best-selling console in India in March 2021, followed by the Xbox Series X in second place. This figure is according to multiple retailers across India who spoke with IGN.
India is typically dominated by PlayStation and Sony has previously admitted to having a 90 percent share of the console market there.
However, Microsoft has been able to restock the Xbox Series S on a somewhat frequent basis, while the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 have had very limited stock available. Many people who wanted to purchase a PS4 or PS5 ended up buying an Xbox Series S when they were told how Game Pass worked, according to IGN.
"Most of them showed up to buy a PS4," said one store executive who remained anonymous. "When we told them it was out of stock and explained to them what Game Pass is and how many games they get access to, they picked up a Series S instead."
Several online retailers have also seen an increase in Xbox Series S sales, while the less powerful next-generation console has also been a best-seller on Amazon India.
"It’s only sold well because it’s what’s available," said a manager at a large format electronics chain. "We’d have sold the same — if not more, if we had the Series X instead."
The PlayStation 5 has sold 6.50 million units worldwide through March 20, while the Xbox Series X|S has sold 4.14 million units, according to VGChartz estimates.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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"Most of them showed up to buy a PS4," said one store executive who remained anonymous. "When we told them it was out of stock and explained to them what Game Pass is and how many games they get access to, they picked up a Series S instead."
This, right here, is how Microsoft is going to dominate Sony in ten year's time, in my opinion, unless Sony similarly releases a Gamepass-like platform after scooping up a bunch of third party studios. Right now, it isn't even close as to what the best deal in gaming is.
They are definitively profiting from Sony's supply issues. If they can get enough people early on it will attract friends and colleagues who want to play with them. Though I wonder how much is the gamepass actually influencing in this kinds of sales compared to the supply issues.
Well the supply issues go both ways. Overall MS would sell more Series S and X units if it was more available. I also felt the success of Series S is dependent on how it handles AAA games, which has been good thus far.
I agree, I think Game Pass is definitively going to reach a crazy number of subscribers, and by proxy, sell a lot of Xbox Series S and X.
And crazy part is, they haven't even been that aggressive in marketing Game Pass. Sure, you have tons of games announced as coming to the service all the time, but little marketing that specifically targets the casuals - the people outside of core gamers that don't read gaming news sites.
I think once Halo drops in the fall, which is a brand that is widely recognized among the casuals, they have a real opportunity to market Game Pass to casuals. I think it's the first game dropping day one on GamePass that has wide name recognition.
PS Now is great, but getting games at launch is a difference. Also, much of the PS Now content is streaming only.
I have the Series S and X. With that said I am actually pleased with my Series S. The lack of internal storage sucks (I use an external SSD), but the specs are still a massive upgrade for majority of users that just had a base 8th gen console.
I have both as well, and I agree. But, I am interested to see how the series s feels a few years from now, when we're not playing cross-gen games anymore
Right, but how it handles games right now matters as well.
My primary concern is the RAM down the road. Its possible the fast storage can help alleviate that issue.
This is great news for MS. But, like all of these console sales statistics we've heard lately, there's not a whole lot to be taken from it. Obviously, a console that is available is going to sell better than the console that is not available. So, the first real interesting 9th gen sales stats will come after all consoles have reasonably consistent availability.
With that said, as we all know, momentum is very much a thing in the console space. People buy what their friends buy, and what they have tried and have experience with. So, if Xbox is able to sell better than expected early in the generation, it improves their chances of selling more units throughout the rest of the generation.
The issue there is... Because of the world-wide chip shortage, supply issues could last well into next year (With potential to continue until 2025 or more due to various market and manufacturing pressures), so the Xbox Series S will likely be the next-gen console to get.
The Xbox Series S just happened to be the right hardware at the right time due to it's smaller chipset being able to be produced in higher quantities.
However with Apple ditching TSMC's 7nm process and migrating to 5nm, AMD will be able to secure a larger 7nm contract going forward... But with their CPU sales (I.E. High profit margin Server-grade stuff) going gangbusters and high-margin GPU sales being driven by crypto... It's unlikely to make much of a difference for the console chipsets which tend to be lower profit for AMD...
And that is before we take into account any further disruptions to the market like A.I, Automobile, IoT and more adding further demand pressures.
What could alleviate the market is potentially Intel if they open up their fabs for 3rd party's and get 7nm/10nm rolling sooner rather than later.
GamePass is the hottest commodity right now in gaming!
What this news tells me is that Microsoft needs to do a better job at advertising GP in developing countries. Some of my friends have never even heard of Game Pass.
I don't think it's available everywhere. I have family in Croatia, and I've been told that Gamepass is not available there.
But, yeah. This case seems to show a marketing problem. Maybe those people would have been coming into the store with the intention of buying an Xbox if Microsoft had better marketed game pass
Imagine actually going to a shop.
Whats a shop?
Okay, now you got me confused. According to Merriam-Webster, it is a "building or room stocked with merchandise for sale." They actually give an example of its use: "once the shop is fully open, the food menu will expand." But I know it is pretty rare to see it without an additional noun linked, like a coffee shop, card shop, gift shop, repair shop, etc.
Based Nadella making sure India has enough consoles <3
What people say: "they only bought Series S and X because there were no PS5/PS4 left, and only after explaining them whar Game Pass is"
What people read: "Game Pass boost Xblx Series S and X sales in India"
I know, right...
Honestly the broader topic does make me wonder about Sony stock allocation, particularly Japan which is pretty significant now and in my mind less critical (if they delay platform growth by 20% they aren't losing home console position) so could be allocated to more competitive markets - or at least competitive enough that lack of stock can be converted into MS gains (which isn't true in Japan).
that being said....
if they lose enough traction in japan that would shift more toward third partes going multiplat or even switch exclusive over there with would hurt sony in the long run as its japanese 3rd party offereings are what differentiates itself from xbox
