Switch Best-Selling Console in the UK in December, Xbox Series X|S Outsells PS5 - Sales
by William D'Angelo , posted on 10 January 2022 / 3,482 Views
It was revealed today the Xbox Series X|S remains the fastest-selling Xbox console generation in history.
The head of GamesIndustry Christopher Dring revealed that while the Xbox Series X|S is ahead of every other Xbox worldwide, it is actually behind the Xbox One in the UK. However, it isn't behind by that much.
"Great to see Xbox Series outpacing Xbox One worldwide," said Dring. "That's not quite the case in the UK, although it's close."
Dring also revealed the Nintendo Switch was the best-selling console in the UK in December and that the Xbox Series X|S came in second with a "huge month."
"Xbox had a huge month in December in the UK, driven by renewed Series X stock," he added. "It was the second biggest console last month behind Switch."
While the PlayStation 5 came in third place, sales were up in December, according to Dring in response to a question asking if there were PS5 stock problems in the UK for the month.
"No more than usual, PS5 sales were up in December, too. Everyone was up," he replied.
Great to see Xbox Series outpacing Xbox One worldwide. That's not quite the case in the UK, although it's close. Xbox had a huge month in December in the UK, driven by renewed Series X stock. It was the second biggest console last month behind Switch (GfK data). More to come
— Christopher Dring (@Chris_Dring) January 10, 2022
No more than usual, PS5 sales were up in December, too. Everyone was up
— Christopher Dring (@Chris_Dring) January 10, 2022
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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You’d have to think that Xbox is thrilled with their first year on the market for 9th gen. Seems like across the board higher demand in all markets and at least globally they are greatly outpacing Xbox One sales
I don’t see how. They are still 50% in sales behind ps5 even tough they had stock available for the series S. also series S is a cheap console. And with gamepass and Bethesda they really were hoping to have outsold ps5.
This sounds a bit like last gen when the first year they were closer but with time ps distances itself on sales.
They are not 50% behind, PS5 is 52% ahead of Xbox SX (as per VGCz) while Xbox is 34.2% behind PS5.
They should be happy with their sales considering that they bet on two horses with console and PC which is as example the reason why I am an Xbox on PC user.
All consoles makers definitely seem like they'll be on a much more even footing this gen, which means all gamers win!
Despite shortages this is great news for all of gaming and more importantly gamers.
Really makes you wonder what the real numbers would be if shortages weren't a thing and people weren't resorting to sacrificing their first-borns just to get a hold of one.
-VIDEOGAME SACRIFICE NINJA APPROVED-
Man this generation looks like it will be the first where all companies have very successful consoles.
I mean, the 7th generation was pretty awesome across the big 3 lol. Wii sold a little over 100 million units while the PS3 and X360 both sold 80+ million. It definitely seems like this generation will for sure be insanely competitive as much, if not more so than the 7th gen!
I agree with you. But taking the discussion in a slightly different direction, this might be the first time where all three do well with "gamers", though. The Wii sold a lot of units to non-gamers. I mean, they were frequently ending up in the lobbies of seniors homes, that sort of thing. The attach rate to the Wii was relatively low, with many of the units sold just being used with the included Wii Sports and nothing else. Yes, some traditional gamers were into the Wii, for sure, but not to the degree they were into the PS360.
The PS3 started out really bad. Sony literally lost billions throughout the PS3/PSP era. In Sony's eyes that era was a failure. Nintendo and Microsoft succeeded that generation. I guess I should have specified success as in how well the company was doing.
I don't think Sony's gaming division lost billions throughout the PS3/PSP era, though. As I recall Sony lost billions on other divisions, and the gaming division (though not doing as well as before) was one of the few things keeping the company afloat. If Sony saw it as a failure, then that was due to a few key missteps and some unrealistic expectations.
I see it as a success for Sony, as they started in a huge hole but ended up being the top-dog among gamers. If you consider the fact that they narrowly outsold the 360, but did so with a lower hardware failure rate, they actually significantly outsold the 360. Plus it set them up for huge success with the PS4 as they made all the right moves to endear themselves to the right consumers at the right time. In fact, if you remove the inflated 360 sales (RRoD was worse than the Yellow Line of Doom), and remove all the Wiis sold to non-gamers (nursing home lobbies, etc.), then the PS3 continued PlayStation's home console winning ways amongst gamers IMO. And I say that as someone who was a 360 owner back then.
I am almost positive the gaming division was hemorrhaging money back then, because of how expensive the blu ray player and cell processor were. Even by modern console standards the PS3 was sold at eye watering losses the first few years it was in store shelves, and Sony’s software offerings from about 2006-2008 were lackluster to say the least.
The xbox 36 0 had a year head start over the ps3, and it was $100/$150 cheaper. Yet the ps3 managed to outsell the xbox.
It lost sales money in hardware the first 2 years I think, or maybe even 3, but it's software was strong, and they broke even and started making profit . By the end of the console run, it had made money, not a loss.
PS3 lost $5b, 360 lost $3b however 360 had Live subscribers to soften the fall.
Sony recovered a little in the 2nd half of the generation, but they were still taking big losses. I put a link to an article talking about their fiscal year ending March 2012. Sony before the PS4 launched were really in a bad spot. I don't think people realize that if the PS4 failed that would have been the end of Sony, not just Playstation. The PS4 was the reason they were able to survive.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-05-10-sony-playstation-division-suffers-full-year-USD2-8bn-loss
The Switch looks like it's going to dwarf the Wii, and I'd say the Switch has much broader appeal.
Nothing surprising. All to do with stock. There was way more switch stock. And they were series S available.
Behind Xbox one. Never was a MS stronghold after all.
Phil Spencer is wrong about how many xbox series he has shipped confirmed.
