Report: Walmart may have more stock of Xbox One than PlayStation 4

Devils advocate here. Perhaps there's more stock for the XB1's because there's less demand for it? Too crazy?

This was stock sent to the store for Black Friday. MS sent 24 boxes, Sony sent 6. It's not stock on hand after being on sale, that's why these are in the stockroom.

Very true, Daniel.  Spoke with a friend (who will remain nameless for obvious reasons), who is a manager for one of the local Walmarts here in central Arkansas, even before both systems officially launched, they got internal docs from HQ detailing which consoles in the shipping schedule would go to launch, and which would go to Black Friday blitz.  Everything shipped after launch, for both consoles, has been saved expressly for Black Friday. Furthermore, he detailed how many consoles he has at his store (locked in his office, where employees cannot get their hands on them) - only seven PS4s, and that is it.  That is all the PS4s his store has been shipped since launch.  By comparison, he has almost 30 Xbox One units that have been shipped to his store since launch, awaiting the Black Friday blitz.  And according to a meeting they had a week ago with store managers from other stores in our region, similar numbers are shaping up; each store only has a handful of PS4 units, while they have dozens of Xbox One units. The plan for blitz, is to line people up and hand out wristbands for each product in the blitz.  Once the wristbands for a particular product are handed out, then that is all - you won't be getting one until who knows.   But the number differential between the two consoles should not come as a surprise to anyone who has actually been paying attention all year. Microsoft stated back in September, they were making enough consoles so that people who wanted one, could walk into retail and just find them this holiday.     Then there has been the question of hardware choices both companies made when designing their respective systems.  Sony went for all cutting edge, and Microsoft went for just shy of cutting edge.  Anyone who has been into tech for more than five minutes, realizes the biggest problem with cutting edge hardware, is decreased yield values at manufacture. By using just shy of cutting edge, Microsoft set themselves up to side step that problem by having more mature/stable tech at manufacture, thus increasing yield values - ie. more silicon actually makes it to retail, and less in the recycle bin.  Perfect (and extreme) example of this was Nintendo's ability to crank out over 20 million Wii units that first year  they shipped their console in 2006.    But Microsoft even hints at this themselves earlier this year, where they point blank stated the reason they chose DDR3 instead of DDR5, was over yields, and their fear that by going with DDR5, they would not have enough to make their launch plans this fall.  Well they are launching a dozen nations, and if the anecdotal evidence provided by several Walmart managers is anything to go by, at least in one nation, they have far more hardware ready at retail than Sony.  If they can manage to remain sold out throughout the holidays, then their hardware choices will certainly have paid off.  Microsoft may actually outsell Sony this holiday - that certainly would be a turnabout that no one saw coming.  But if the supply is there, and the demand is there, and Sony is coming up short on supply, it's very possible Microsoft could come out ahead by year's end.   On a side note, according to my friend, Walmart has also been hording Xbox 360s and PS3s for Black Friday.  His store has a couple pallets of each.

Great info, thanks for posting!

Awesome summary, thanks!

Logical info, this comment is as good as an article itself.

Agreed, great info, thank you for taking the time to provide such a detailed post!!!

Seriously don't get all this black Friday buzz, since not living in US. But what I saw from the videos it seems like a very messy day. People fighting over 50$ smartphones. What kinda discounts are we looking here? For instance for the very same X-BOX one? will it cost like 200$ on this particular day? Or will it cost like 450$? Cause in that case I don't see the rush why to go and stomp over somebody and empty my wallet. But what I like about US, you guys are so active in partcipating in any kind of activity. Like if any event takes place you can find so much of people to come for it. Also admire the tipping system.:) You guys tip for reason and without one.

Lol yeah man it has really become some what a fanatic event where women rush clothing stores to grab winter clothes for 50 or even 70 percent off. Many families buy their first LED Tv's or big screen Tvs for their kids, also cameras are discounted so heavily many people walk out with cameras without really needing one lol and yes it is a VERY HECTIC day. Now as far as the Xbox One I doubt it will see even the slightest discount. Maybe Walmart or stores like Target will add on some kind of bundle and that would be the black Friday special. You usually have Tvs, cameras, laptops, tablets, audio systems go for the big WOW factor deals. heres a good website from mobile nations so you can get an idea of why people go so crazy lol I wait till cyber money btw, I don't bite into the whole shenanigans. http://www.wpcentral.com/talk-mobile/black-friday-2013-deals

While I agree with nearly everything tachyonic said, cutting edge isn't a < $150 GPU that can be outperformed by my mid range 7850 :P yields should be very good on both, although they SHOULD be better like you said on Xbox one, if slightly. AMD won't have much trouble producing GPUs with 14 and 20 CUs though.

People often forget that this systems are aimed at one thing, and they will do very fine in that task (gaming) looking at Killzone SF just make me wonder why I need to pay US$ 800 or more to get something's close to it. I'm tired if "PC pro gamer" that always start with the "its out date components"... Yeah they're not the beast the 360 nor the PS3 (specially the PS3, that whipped the floor of any CPU in market in those days), but how of you will pay the 600 to get more ohmp???

Just a follow-up.  Both systems sold out within minutes of their respective sales, Thanksgiving night.  Not just at my friend's store, but pretty much every Walmart store in the area.  Having nothing else to do, I hung out at a different Walmart (one closer to home), to pick up their Surface RT 64GB, which they had unadvertised on sale.  So I got watch some of the 'festivities'.     Both the PS4 and Xbox One went on sale at 6pm (local time), they started lining people up for the various promos around 2pm, and handed out all the wristbands for the 6pm sales, at 4pm.  I did not get there until around 3:30pm, but since I was there for an unadvertised product that no one, not even the Walmart reps knew were on sale, I got to walk around the store and just marvel at all the madness.  The entire store had been rearranged to make room for the lines for all the major sales.  It was surprisingly organized, and maddening, all at once, as literally hundreds of people crowded into the store all at once.  And there were cops everywhere.  It was like the entire police department was on hand to provide security.  So no cases of violent incidents took place.  Anyway, the Walmart I was in only had six PS4s, but had twenty-four Xbox Ones.  The wristbands for both were pretty much gone as soon as they started handing them out.  More than a few people who wanted either console got turned away empty handed.  There was probably 70, 80 people in either line waiting for a wristband, by the time I got there.  So yeah, a lot of people went home without a next-gen console . . . or had to make due with picking up a last-gen console, which they had hundreds of stacked up behind their own lines.  But more importantly, it was a very good indicator of demand for next-gen consoles, even at their expensive launch prices.  Shockingly, the extra $100 on the price of the Xbox One, did not seem to diminish demand for the console, one bit.  As there was easily just as many people standing in the Xbox One line, as there were standing in the PS4 line.  If the Walmart I was standing in was any indication, both companies could have made more consoles than they had, and still sold out.  So no matter which console you are after this fall, prepare to have to work to get it. 

Final followup.  Sales results are in from across the continent, and . . . well, see the headlines for yourselves. Microsoft’s Xbox One wins early sales battle on Black Friday
http://venturebeat.com/2013/11/30/microsofts-xbox-one-wins-early-sales-battle-on-black-friday/   Xbox One Sold Out, PS4 Sold Out After Black Friday Sales http://www.dailygame.net/videogames/microsoft/xbox-one/xbox-one-sold-ps4-sold-black-friday-sales  

Well I think Japan actually makes more off selling consoles in europe because of the weaker USD. Though europe isn't the largest console market, I think while we see the lower volume could be related to why MS did not go with GDDR5. It obviously has lower yields than DDR3 only being produced for highend PC GPUs beforehand. AMD had seem huge stock delays when they first incorporated it in their 5 series GPUs I think coupled with all of the new GPUs and PS4 mass production they are seeing it again and it could also be a factor of why MS steered away from it.

Especially considering that Black Friday is almost exclusively a US affair. Not so much Cyber Monday -- eg Steam fire sales -- but when it comes to physical stores getting into the Black Friday groove it's primarily US only.

Well I work for sams club which is affiliated with WalMart and we don't even offer the ps4 in store so idk I think we mite be picking sides

Its because the PS4 is the superior console.

Makes claim. Gives no argument. Fails to address why Sony only sends 6 consoles versus Microsoft sending 24 for Friday. I give this comment a D rating.

Plus Walmart is a multi retail store where mainly Parents go for shopping .. And Xbox One is the best Family entertainment system in the market .. The situation in GameStop will be in PS4 favour mostly

You're the CEO of gamestop?

Yea that's a lie I talked to gamestops and ps4 are in short supply even, our local store has 5 ps4 compared to 15 Xbox ones its everywhere not just WalMart Xbox came ready to sell

Man, I'm so glad I got my Xbox already. I feel bad for my brother though, he wants an Xbox, and it is hard to find, lol.

Why don't you step up your brother game and gift him one! ;)

I did lol I bought a day one and Won a regular edition in a draw so I SOLD one to my brother lol

Harsh! No love lost between siblings, I see ;-)

How can I if there are no stock? :P

Perfect time for adding salt to the wound! Give him a few Xbox One games for the holiday! XD

Lol I was at a target the weekend after its launch and I saw 4 xbox one on the shelf vs no ps4 on the shelf.

Is this because sony sold more ps4s than the xbox one already so their stock is lower? It'd be nice if there was figures to go with this. I saw an article that said that over a million ps4s were sold on day one and then I saw another article saying the same thing for xbox ones. I wonder what the real numbers are to how many each console have sold to date.

Remember ps4 launched in Canada / USA. Xbox launched worldwide.

Doesn't really matter both sold out all their console. If say Microsoft stocked the stores with another 200000 consoles they'd have sold out too, same goes for ps4. You can't sell what's not thier

Not in our game at st.helens they didn't. My cousin works there and says they have 83 uncollected xb1 preorders...

Maybe the people don't have the money to pay the difference yet. Technically those are sold though.

Xbox actually didn't quite sell out a lot of big cities still had them on shelves at toysrus, targets and a few best buys, but to draw more people in for the holiday rush they weren't allowed to sell them until black Friday.... WalMart being the main culprit as well as best buy... This is coming from employees in the company they weren't even allowed to say if and when shipments come just that black Friday will have some

Maybe so for the big cities but I know for a fact that in my city there are no Xbox ones in stores "now". You can buy them used but people want $800-$1000. And for the most part all stores keep big demand items for events such as black Friday...its just smart business, sales draw people in then they see Xbox or what have you next thing they know they spent $3000 on things they didn't really need because it was $25 off

I cant find any xb1. Ive been out for 6 hours and ive been to costco, gamestop, walmart, bestbuy and toys r us. The guy in gamestop told me theyll have it by black friday, but the toys r us told me its the hottest thing on planet and we wont get much on black friday. I really love to get my xbox today or tomorrow, i know its thanksgiving but is there any stores that i can buy an xbox one from? Im dying from excitement!!

^^^ good luck!

Dude you'd save gas by calling these places beforehand!

Microsoft Store if you have one. One near me has been selling them all day and had more than 20 in stock.

I don't know if you you shop online, but if you do, Rakuten will have 'em for Black Friday. There's also a bunch of other delas for those interested in anything I guess at www.blackfriday.com It's better if you look at the website through a PC. It seems to slow my Atom tablet down and really can't navigate through it. Here you can dind all the deals from retailers like Walmart, Target, Best Buy, etc. I'm mostly an Amazonian or Rakuten shopper, but don't know what Amazon has to offer as I've yet to see a Black Friday ad from them.

Parent goes to Walmart for console for kid. Sees no PS4's available. Figures why wait and gets an XB1. Sony seems to always stumble.

Sony never understands the north American market

Brack Friday Bundaru?

WalMart could have xb1 exclusive and wouldn't buy from them

Good to know. Give it to a true gamer

*WOOSH* Missed the point completely.

I stopped going to WalMart after I saw a giant turd on the floor. Didn't know if it was from a dog or ....

Did you have a hole in your underwear?

I will buy XBone when version 2.0 is out in the summer.

I would have loved a day one edition. By the time I can afford one it will probably be 2nd Gen :-)

Lots of supply chain experts in the crowd today. This is just one store out of the thousands that sell consoles. While it is interesting to think about, there's little reason to think this is representative of a nation wide trend.

Certainly in the UK they seem to be refilling the pipes for the Xbox One. My second order (I know insane) placed after the release will be shipping in 1 week and I found at least two retailers who claim to be able to fulfill the second wave with stock expected in 7 to 10 days. This would be a vast improvement on the original 360 which remained constrained for months after release. From experience last time 5 months on and I was still waiting for my pre-order.   The numbers sold this time seem comparable to the original launch so it would on face value appear that Microsoft have drastically improved stock avaialability over the original launch. How much better this is than the PS4 I really could not say.

I ordered mine from the MSFT store (USA) 11/23 in the evening. Received the console today. Its odd that of the games I ordered only one, Forza, has arrived.  I can't imagine how difficult it must be to match end demand with supply. In my case I was  surprised how quickly I received my order.

Just talked to a Target employee. He said they got 10 Xbones at 11, sold out by 2. I asked him hoe sales compared to PS4, he said selling more X-Box, simply because they get more in stock.

Obviously Sony prioritizing for a blowout EU weekend.

Microsoft Stores are filled with Xboxes. They had over 20 on display guarded by a store sales guy and a lot more in the back.

Not sure which store you went to because the MS Store I just stepped out of are sold out with a 85 person waiting list.

PS4 supplies are lower and Sony still managed to sell in half a continent more than Microsoft around the World? That's not really good news for Xbox fans. Anyway, as others have said, the PS4 is only launched in Europe on 29th November. I'm not sure how are Sony's plans regarding distributions of all their products, but if they're using the same strategy with their PS consoles as they are with their Android Xperias, then it means that Sony just prefers to focus more on the European market than on the US one.

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense as shown ny their Nobember 15th U.S. Launch...

Bottom line is no matter how many systems both produce from now until around March, all will sell. If they produce more than the other good for them for having better production yields.

Has anyone thought that maybe the PS4 is just selling faster/more? Not trying to sound like a fanboy, but I hate the one sidedness here.

It is not about X1 or PS4 selling faster, its about the amount of stock pushed by both MS and Sony to retail stores, read the article once again and also the comment above by "TachyonicCargo"

+1

This is why I am excited for Microsoft to be buying Nokia's device and services division. Better supply chain management and better devices. I hope we can get leading hardware on all major carriers and major retail stores in one shot, rather than AT&T's exclusive bs. Microsoft certainly learned their lessons it seems from the Xbox 360 launch, kudos to them.

Nokia has traditionally had the best supply management. Their cash position just wasn't one that gave a lot of leeway. The WP demand has also been somewhat difficult to estimate. Things should indeed improve with MS cash backing them up.

That does help back up pre-launch supply chain analysis that suggested MS was manufacturing XB1 at 3x the rate of the PS4

Our WalMart got 8 Xbox ones and 15 ps4s, get this, for a city with a population of 17000.

For launch or for black Friday?

At launch, asked if anymore were coming in and they told me not for a while.

They should have more than that for black Friday. At launch we had 12 PS4's and 10 X1's... Now there are alot more X1's but not many PS4's

I live in Canada too, black Friday isn't the biggest deal around here. They offer some stuff at ok price, but its pretty much throwing the people a bone to try and stop them from crossing the border.

If anyone of you live close to NYC, Toys R' Us (Time Square) have plenty of Day One edition in stock. I called them the other day to verify, and they did say that they have plenty in stock. Make sure you call first just in case.

Plenty in Time Squre. I don't believe you.

Why don't you give them a call? You do have a smartphone right? You do know when you contact an out of area number from your smartphone it is free right? Oh yeah, they're close already. Bummer, you just missed a chance.

A lot of big cities didn't run out of stock is a few articles online discussing that like new York and Los Angeles had quite of stores had extras

4 vs 24? I wouldn't call it heaps more. Sounds more like outrageously short supplied and in shabby supply respectively...

I think over 500% counts as heaps more.

Man don't just look at the percentage. Guy has 5 strands of hair outdoes the one with one single hair by 400%, yet the two of them are both practically bald. When talking about stocking up for Black Friday, I was thinking more in hundreds of units... Could be wrong though. Just came to the US for 4 months, and discovered there are a whole lot less people than in China. Maybe 100 units per store is good enough for the season. Back in China, the stock should be in thousands to be in the safe zone...

Europe is very important for Sony's stategy. They won the PS3 VS 360 battle globally mostly because of European sales. I think they would rather have more PS4s here than in the US if they had to choose. This is something Microsoft should learn with Sony, to support Europe more. Firstly they will only release the Xbox One in 2014 in most of the European services. Secondly, most services available in the US at launch will never be available in many countries here, just because Microsoft doesn't think they are worthy. But they actually are, Sony just prove it in the PS3 and 360 gen. The thing is, Mcrosoft can do better with the One globally. Look at Surface, the first one took months to arrive to many European markets. Surface 2 was a totally different story, they have been here since to global release date and as far as I know they are selling quite well. I saw 2 of them just in the last week!

Gamestop by me had a lot of extras of X1 on release day, but would only sell 4. Said they would have more for Black Friday. I'm guessing they were saving them for Black Friday. Others might be doing the same

My friend who works at Microsoft said stores were given a lot of stock ( alot more than the PS4) to ensure every (or most) customer at each store would get one and not be upset for dealing with out of stock stores.  They even advertised this on their social media outlets.

At my best buy we had more Xbox ones for launch than playstation 4. In fact when the midnight launch was over we 30+ playstation 4 left to sell the following morning where as with the Xbox one launch we sold everything. We also have not received any more ps4s and I know we have some Xbox ones coming in within the next few days.

Dude...Just get an XBOX One free here! http://www.freexboxone.org/c/179750   #freexboxone #xboxone #ps4 #battlefield4 #callofdutyghost #xbox

There's no way to report this fool?

Of course there are more Xbox one's. Have you seen the launch's? The prices? The anything news at all about these two?

It's obvious you haven't. Maybe you should try reading actual articles and not just headlines cause if you did, you would get the actual point of the post

Looks to hold true as i just left WalMart and they still had Xbox one. Ps4 was all sold out.