Xbox One sales have nearly doubled since 2017 says NPD

By Asher Madan
published

Xbox One is doing rather well.

Xbox One X
Xbox One X (Image credit: Matt Brown | Windows Central)

Here's one for the history books. According to The NPD Group, in June 2018, the Nintendo Entertainment System Classic (opens in new tab) (NES Classic) outsold both the PlayStation 4 (opens in new tab) and Xbox One. While the PlayStation 4 was the highest-selling platform in terms of revenue, the NES Classic sold the most units. Apparently, this is the first time a NES console has topped monthly sales since NPD tracking began in 1995.

The NPD Group tracks video game sales across the United States each month. Many companies, including Microsoft, utilize its services to get a better understanding of how much product they've sold. Apart from that, it's become somewhat of a competition among gamers. Everyone wants to know which platform did the best.

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Aside from sharing these statistics, NPD analyst Mat Piscatella said that Xbox One dollar sales have nearly doubled since last year. Hopefully this trend will continue in the future. In order to make the console more appealing, Microsoft needs to release exclusive sooner rather than later. However, with next-generation machines rumored for 2020, it's unclear just how much of a push the Xbox One can witness.

Many years ago, Microsoft began measuring the success of its gaming ventures in terms of user engagement. Since then the company has only reported Xbox Live monthly active users. Only the NPD figures gives us some insight into the number of consoles sold and how it compares with other platforms.

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Asher Madan
Asher Madan

Asher Madan handles gaming news for Windows Central. Before joining Windows Central in 2017, Asher worked for a number of different gaming outlets. He has a background in medical science and is passionate about all forms of entertainment, cooking, and antiquing.

24 Comments
  • Well this is a very misleading title. NPD said "Xbox One HW dollar sales nearly doubled in June 2018 when compared to a year ago". Its clear that NPD is comparing the Xbox One sales of June 2018 versus June of 2017.
  • The headline doesn't say otherwise. It is a factually correct statement on its face.
  • Purposeful omission of pertinent context, by definition, means the title is a misleading statement.
  • Not sure what point you're trying to make here? June 2017 is in 2017. If you want a publication that puts the entire article into the headline you should probably read the Daily Mail instead.
  • He's right that the headline is misleading, he's just wrong about why; when you say sales have doubled without any qualifiers, you imply that you are talking about unit sales. That isn't the case here, what's being reported is a doubling of hardware revenue. The Xbox One X costs significantly more than the Xbox One S, and the X was not in the market last June. The X was also discounted in June, so it likely had a larger than normal contribution to that month's sales total. So it's extremely unlikely that unit sales nearly doubled.
  • lol The title is misleading and it's meaning is different than what NPD actually talks about.
    Either the author didn't understand what NPD was talking about or he just writing misleading stuff on purpose.
    Also talking of the size of the headline is ridiculous. These are suppose to be writers. How much space does "Xbox One hardware dollar sales have nearly doubled compared to June of 2017" really take? I mean there are other titles that are longer. lol
  • It was misleading and adding YoY to the headline would clarify things without making it long.
  • In spite of the "doubling," it seems that the Xbox is still dead last overall.
  • Ah no, it's in second place. Wii U is DEAD LAST.
  • Well, they don't sell that anymore so....
    Sounds like the Switch may be last, though I don't see a list of the figures here. Or maybe the SNES classic is last? There doesn't seem to be a link to any charts, etc.
    I bought an NES classic. Kind of regretting it, with the crap short controller cords. One thing to not be wireless, to make the wires 3 ft long is total BS.
  • "According to The NPD Group, in June 2018, the Nintendo Entertainment System Classic (NES Classic) outsold both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. While the PlayStation 4 was the highest-selling platform in terms of revenue, the NES Classic sold the most units."
  • The article clearly says "Xbox One dollar sales have nearly doubled since last year." No where in the title does it say "unit sales". Sales is a broad term used by the NPD and everyone knows they primarily report in terms of revenue.
  • Nowhere in the title does it say "unit" or "dollar". But more importantly, NPD was saying that Xbox One HW dollar sales have nearly doubled when comparing June of 2018 to June of 2017. "Xbox One hardware dollar sales have nearly doubled compared to June of 2017" would be a more accurate title…that is if accuracy is what your were prioritizing. But if you were going for sensationalism over accuracy, then the current title is spot-on.
  • Again, the article says "Xbox One dollar sales have nearly doubled since last year." It's in the center of the page.
  • 1) he is talking of the title.
    2) you don't seem to understand the problem. It's simple english.
    3) err... nevermind, just forget it... I'm done with this...
  • Asher Madan - Ignore them, it's the same usual suspects deliberately trying to make the article about something else because they have an agenda of devaluing the Xbox brand. Anyone who reads these comments sections regularly knows exactly what I am talking about it.
  • I know. It's just funny to see "Guest_aotf" talk about the title when he has a history of abuse. He even tried to convince others that Xbox's Aaron Greenberg thought Super Lucky's Tale was "AAA" because he didn't understand the meaning of blockbuster.
  • The title you have implies that it is talking about total Xbox sales, as in since 2017 Xbox has sold nearly double what it had sold up to 2017. It doesn't quantify that it is comparing two specific periods, June 2017 and June 2018. Which significantly changes how the data is represented. But you already know this, don't you?
  • NPD numbers have historically and most commonly been used to discuss market share, which has always been about unit sales, not revenue. Hell, every discussion about console sales is typically framed from a market share and unit sales perspective. It's how everyone who isn't primarily interested in MS's financials, but is an Xbox fan is going to read that. This isn't a business/financial analysis centric website, and primarily caters to a fan audience. You should expect that to be read as unit sales. And yeah, the article is clear enough. Not everyone is going to read it though, people who only see the headline will be misinformed, and for those who do read it, it's jarring; as an Xbox fan, a doubling of unit sales would be a huge deal, a much larger one than a doubling of revenue, especially given the lack of the Xbox One X last year. That headline is exciting; it becomes a let down when you get to the actual article and the news is way more qualified and much less of a big deal.
  • That's exactly what the headline says. Sales figures like this are always measured versus the same time period the year before.
  • the Xbox exclusive Sea Of Thieves is a wonderful multiplayer experience
  • The title is misleading...
    Err. Never mind, I just saw who the author of the article was... LOL
  • Coming from the person who lied about Aaron Greenberg thinking Super Lucky's Tale is a "AAA" game, that's rich. Read the article. Sales means dollar sales in this case. Then again, you just like to abuse and complain and insult how other people speak English.
  • Don't bother. He still doesn't know Microsoft exclusives mean...