Support NeoGAF

[Bullet Club]

Xbox One was the UK No.1 games console over Black Friday

It narrowly beat Switch, but Nintendo generated the most revenue from hardware sales

The Xbox family of consoles were the best-selling machines over Black Friday in the UK.

Microsoft's device was heavily discounted during the Black Friday sales period, with the Xbox One S All-Digital consoles cut to £110 in Tesco, with £129.99 offers at other retailers. The machine bundled in digital versions of Sea of Thieves, Minecraft and Fortnite, which is why all of those games charted so well in the software charts.

More than 100,000 Xbox One machines were sold last week, according to retailers, which is just slightly behind what the console managed during Black Friday 2018. The All-Digital version was the most successful edition of them all.

Xbox One very narrowly beat Nintendo Switch by "just a handful of consoles". Nintendo's machine also featured some big discounts during Black Friday, with the new 'Lite' version down to £179.99. Retailers also did some bundling around products such as Nintendo Labo, Mario Kart 8: Deluxe and Pokemon Sword and Shield.

The Neon Switch with the longer battery life was the biggest selling version of the machine. Nintendo sold more Switch consoles during this Black Friday than it managed over the same period in 2018.

In terms of revenue, Nintendo Switch was actually the No.1 console due to the higher price of the machine compared to Xbox One.

This all meant that PS4 was in third place. Sony's machine sold just over 60,000 units last week, with the FIFA 20 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare bundles proving to be the most popular. Although there were offers around PlayStation last week, they were not as aggressive as Microsoft's deals.

Overall for the year, sales of PS4 and Xbox One are considerably down during 2019 vs 2018, although that's to be expected as the machines begin to show their age.

Xbox One sales are down 35% year-to-date and PS4 is down 45% year-to-date. Nintendo Switch, as the newer product, is trending more than 13% up year-to-date.

Source: Games Industry

 

[CyberPanda]

I was gonna post this you bastard.

just kidding

Anyway, this shows price matters.

 

[Spukc]

damn thing was 76 euro's here
insane.. that is a working KODI box for 76 euro's inc a controller and frikking 3 games

feck a pi4 is easily 130 inc all the parts,

 

[New Yorks Finest]

We here boiiiis!!!!! ....I was hoping TheLastWord would post this...bu..bu..what happen bro?? Huh..whu happin?!! You no post

 

[Bullet Club]

Anyway, this shows price matters.

Yep. The S at that price is a nice and cheap 4K bluray player.

Edit: Not the digital version though.

 

[Senua]

Everyone already has a PS4 I guess.

 

[Clear]

Its also worth noting that Black Friday isn't that big of a deal in the UK as there's no Thanksgiving celebration here, and Christmas/New Year is less than a month off and the retail peak of the year.

 

[Deleted member 740922]

Its also worth noting that Black Friday isn't that big of a deal in the UK

You are kidding, right? Most shops were advertising Black Friday deals all over the UK.

 

[SidViscous]

I picked up an S for £119.99 as a discounted 4k Blu-ray player.

Doubt I'll even try gaming on it, but the joypad will be used on the PC

 

[CeeJay]

Its also worth noting that Black Friday isn't that big of a deal in the UK as there's no Thanksgiving celebration here, and Christmas/New Year is less than a month off and the retail peak of the year.

No, you are right, it's only predicted to be the second busiest weekend for shopping of the year. No big deal...

 

[ethomaz]

Its also worth noting that Black Friday isn't that big of a deal in the UK as there's no Thanksgiving celebration here, and Christmas/New Year is less than a month off and the retail peak of the year.

You could be accurate two years ago but not in 2019.

Black Friday become big everywhere.

 

[Clear]

Its bullshit guys. There are sales on constantly, and just because they hype BF more than ever doesn't mean it has anything like the sort of sustained draw that Christmas/New Year has.

Kids get presents/money for Christmas here because that's when the fucking HOLIDAY is. BF is just an arbitrary weekend in November chosen by the advertising industry to cash in on the creeping Americanization of our culture that's been bleeding in hard since the Internet got so ubiquitous.

The socio-economic underpinning just isn't the same.

 

[SLB1904]

£99 did the job. Tried to grab one no luck

 

[EverydayBeast]

Everybody acts like coming out of Black Friday on top of console charts is something impressive, not only is it an embarrassment it screams Microsoft can only sell consoles at discounts, not a sustainable formula to win console wars.

 

[Kagero]

Congrats MS. Very smart strategy. Get consoles in to as many hands possible to sell them on subs to services. Wish Sony was as smart.

 

[Ascend]

Xbox is still dead though.

/sarcasm

 

[CeeJay]

Everybody acts like coming out of Black Friday on top of console charts is something impressive, not only is it an embarrassment it screams Microsoft can only sell consoles at discounts, not a sustainable formula to win console wars.

Black Friday is a good barometer for the entire Christmas period and if something is a best seller during this weekend then it is a very strong indicator that those trends will be true by the end of the year. Consoles are bought in much bigger numbers for the Christmas period by far than any other period in the year so a win in sales during the Black Friday weekend is significant. The Xbox One SAD is designed to be a budget console to appeal to the mass market and also as a test to see if there is an appetite for a console without a physical drive. It's pretty clear that the Xbox One SAD experiment has been a resounding success for Microsoft and has proved that there are a lot of people prepared to go all digital at the right price. The console may have been discounted but its the implication that all customers of this version are going to be buying their games directly from the console that is also important.

 

[Portugeezer]

The Phil Spencer effect.

 

[prinz_valium]

Everybody acts like coming out of Black Friday on top of console charts is something impressive, not only is it an embarrassment it screams Microsoft can only sell consoles at discounts, not a sustainable formula to win console wars.

This is the impressive part:

Xbox One sales are down 35% year-to-date and PS4 is down 45% year-to-date

 

[ethomaz]

Its bullshit guys. There are sales on constantly, and just because they hype BF more than ever doesn't mean it has anything like the sort of sustained draw that Christmas/New Year has.

Kids get presents/money for Christmas here because that's when the fucking HOLIDAY is. BF is just an arbitrary weekend in November chosen by the advertising industry to cash in on the creeping Americanization of our culture that's been bleeding in hard since the Internet got so ubiquitous.

The socio-economic underpinning just isn't the same.

No matter what Black Friday is.
It become huge in UK.

 

[Starlight Lotice]

My Local ASDA had the Lite at £169.99 which is awesome but I am not making money atm so decided against it.

Expected that the Xbox would sell the most as they reduce them to almost sub £100 levels.

 

[prinz_valium]

Black Friday Week History

XB1
2014: 108,678
2015: 133,745
2016: 92,578
2017: ???
2018: >100,000
2019: >100,000

PS4
2014: 108,087
2015: 139,011
2016: 142,578
2017: >143,000 (Best Black Friday Week sans 2013/launch)
2018: >100,000
2019: 60,000

NSW
2017: ???
2018: >100,000
2019: >100,000

For 2018, we know PS4+XB1+NSW was over 300K, with PS4 "...the best-selling machine, narrowly ahead of Xbox One, which was narrowly ahead of Nintendo Switch".

Xbox One was the UK No.1 games console over Black Friday

Same in some shops in Luxembourg and Germany too.

www.resetera.com

 

[Aceofspades]

So apparently for some...sales will matter this month before being irrelevant again in two weeks

 

[iconmaster]

It's pretty late in the day to be celebrating these little victories. I suppose the boxes sold will continue to generate a nice bit of income for Microsoft as the next gen ramps up in 2020, though.

 

[Digital Gex]

I was going to say 100,000 is low until I realized it's the UK.

 

[Dory16]

That game pass.

 

[GV82]

The UK does like a good bargain from the deals sites lol there must be so many now with all 3 consoles or at least 2 this generation.

Plus the gamepass & backwards compatibility helps, though I wonder if any kids Xmas time will end up with a pile of discs off parents who bought the digital only bundle not realising there’s no disc drive & get mad about it oops lol, there’s bound to be some, you will see them on amazon come after Xmas day with the one stars. Poor kids.

Other wise welcome to the Xbox club Fellow brits.

 

[Mochilador]

I hope everyone is also grabbing Game Pass.

 

[Slings and Arrows]

Not to downplay a stat that will have fanboys celebrating and cursing, depending which plastic box they prefer, to add some perspective:

• Microsoft have stated in the past that they make more money from Oct-Dec that all other months of the year combined.
• If I didn't have an xbox, I would have bought one for that price, likewise the PS4.
• Microsoft want to push gamepass now, before the next gen next year and clear out stock.
• Everyone already has a PS4

To echo Clear , Black Friday, despite what the stores say, what the advertisers say and what is portrayed, isn't a big deal. It peaked around two years ago, then when the public saw the mobs of people beating up old blokes it left a stale taste in our mouths. People may be buying shit online, but the footfall for the highstreet this year, is nowhere near as busy as I have seen it.

 

[Clear]

No matter what Black Friday is.
It become huge in UK.

Compared to the US, its not even close. The general consensus is that it mostly displaces sales from early December, and ultimately 26-29 December are still peak for footfall traffic, with the biggest single sales day remaining the last Saturday before Christmas,

BF is not a public holiday, its just the convergence point for a lot of retailers offering promos and discounts in order to prevent online sellers from eating their lunch for the weekend.

The UK is not America. Its just not.

 

[JLB]

You could be accurate two years ago but not in 2019.

Black Friday become big everywhere.

Indeed. We dont have turkey nor celebrations here (Argentina), but shopping is HUGE on BF days. Probably Brasil and Chile at the very least as well.

 

[JLB]

BTW, im flying to US soon, and im having a LOT of issues to find any Elite Controller V2. Either supply was damn low, and/or demand is crazy. Its sold out pretty much everywhere I searched for.

 

[ethomaz]

Compared to the US, its not even close. The general consensus is that it mostly displaces sales from early December, and ultimately 26-29 December are still peak for footfall traffic, with the biggest single sales day remaining the last Saturday before Christmas,

BF is not a public holiday, its just the convergence point for a lot of retailers offering promos and discounts in order to prevent online sellers from eating their lunch for the weekend.

The UK is not America. Its just not.

Black Friday was never a public holiday lol
It is a shopping day and yes it is huge in UK and already become the second biggest sales day in UK.

Even in US the holiday happens a day before the Black Friday... and the last Saturday of the year has bigger sales than Black Friday.

 

[Gavin Stevens]

Please don’t post positive Xbox news, the site can’t take it. Thank you.

 

[ethomaz]

BTW, im flying to US soon, and im having a LOT of issues to find any Elite Controller V2. Either supply was damn low, and/or demand is crazy. Its sold out pretty much everywhere I searched for.

It always hard to buy things in US dew weeks after the Black Friday.
The best is always travel during the BF there.

Please don’t post positive Xbox news, the site can’t take it. Thank you.

What the issue exactly?

 

[prinz_valium]

Compared to the US, its not even close. The general consensus is that it mostly displaces sales from early December, and ultimately 26-29 December are still peak for footfall traffic, with the biggest single sales day remaining the last Saturday before Christmas,

BF is not a public holiday, its just the convergence point for a lot of retailers offering promos and discounts in order to prevent online sellers from eating their lunch for the weekend.

The UK is not America. Its just not.

The last Saturday before Christmas is also bigger in the US.
That's not unique. That's all around the western world.

BF in the UK is bigger than mainland Europe.

 

[Gavin Stevens]

What the issue exactly?

Xbox is only allowed negative news, it’s only allowed to be poor. If anything goes right for it, or it sells well, no matter how small a win, it needs to be made very clear that this is in fact not a win, and that it’s only done well because “reasons”.

This is the way of neogaf. And so it shall forever be.

 

[ethomaz]

Xbox is only allowed negative news, it’s only allowed to be poor. If anything goes right for it, or it sells well, no matter how small a win, it needs to be made very clear that this is in fact not a win, and that it’s only done well because “reasons”.

This is the way of neogaf. And so it shall forever be.

Seems like you are living in an alternative GAF

 

[imsosleepy]

well.. If you get new people who stil dont have a console or familes who buy a first console for their kid a cheap xbox
they buy into the xbox brand and u have a high chance they move with u into the next generation

 

[Hissing Sid]

Well yeah, Xbox prices were roughly the equivalent of the small change you find down the back of the couch.

No such luck with the two Switches I bought for the kids. Robbing sods.

 

[Mista]

The Phil Spencer effect.

The cheap price effect*

 

[Kittehkraken]

The cheapest console on Black Friday was the biggest seller?

 

[PPIMystaceus]

Makes sense. Everyone here already has a PS4 and you could get an S for sub £200.

 

[JLB]

Well yeah, Xbox prices were roughly the equivalent of the small change you find down the back of the couch.

No such luck with the two Switches I bought for the kids. Robbing sods.

Man where do you live? Because at home i dont typically find 150 bucks all of the sudden

 

[Hissing Sid]

Man where do you live? Because at home i dont typically find 150 bucks all of the sudden

I live in a land where a hundred quid is not a huge amount of money to spend during Xmas in 2019.

Edit : Although I do acknowledge that I also live in a country that has spent the last decade screwing the disabled and less well off so yes, a hundred quid would probably not be a trifling amount to some people. Relatively speaking though I still think a hundred quid is not a huge amount of money for the average family at Christmas. Didn't mean to come across all Catherine Zeta Jonesey..

 

[Journey]

The cheapest console on Black Friday was the biggest seller?

Moving of the goal posts, greatest tradition here at NeoGaf.



Before Black Friday:

PS4 is gonna kill it this year, no way Xbox will do as good, it has no exclusives, why would anyone buy that over the PS4?


After Black Friday:

The cheapest console on Black Friday was the biggest seller?

 

[Kittehkraken]

Moving of the goal posts, greatest tradition here at NeoGaf.



Before Black Friday:

PS4 is gonna kill it this year, no way Xbox will do as good, it has no exclusives, why would anyone buy that over the PS4?


After Black Friday:

The cheapest console on Black Friday was the biggest seller?

Nobody that's Black Friday shopping gives a shit what NeoGaf thinks. The One S Digital was miles cheaper than anything else in stores and it did well because of that. A lot of people were disappointed with what Sony was offering this year.

Like i said in another thread, i almost bought a Gears One S bundle because it was a damn good value.

 

[JLB]

Nobody that's Black Friday shopping gives a shit what NeoGaf thinks. The One S Digital was miles cheaper than anything else in stores and it did well because of that. A lot of people were disappointed with what Sony was offering this year.

Like i said in another thread, i almost bought a Gears One S bundle because it was a damn good value.

Sure, but if numbers were in favor of sony, there would be a wave of “obvously”, “ps is a best”, “xbox is doomed, told u”, etc

 

[ethomaz]

Moving of the goal posts, greatest tradition here at NeoGaf.



Before Black Friday:

PS4 is gonna kill it this year, no way Xbox will do as good, it has no exclusives, why would anyone buy that over the PS4?


After Black Friday:

The cheapest console on Black Friday was the biggest seller?

Black Friday was always about cheapest option... Xbox always do good in BF with it price deals.

 

[Journey]

Nobody that's Black Friday shopping gives a shit what NeoGaf thinks. The One S Digital was miles cheaper than anything else in stores and it did well because of that. A lot of people were disappointed with what Sony was offering this year.

Like i said in another thread, i almost bought a Gears One S bundle because it was a damn good value.

The point is, it's still surprising that Xbox had better sales, regardless of the circumstances leading up to it. There's no need for that Gif. If an Xbox fan used the same Gif in 2013 when the PS4 was $399 vs Xbox One $499 we would call him salty and we would be right.