Can only speak for Germany but the Series X was available all the time since launch.
Friend of mine called a few stores and got one on the same day, just a few weeks after launch.
Plus you could find Series X on eBay for a markup of "only" 50€ whereas a scalped PS5 went for 800 to 1000€.
Series S was always available here, never sold out anywhere and quickly marked down to 250€.
IMO Xbox Series numbers were propped up by the unavailability of the PS5, not by an increased demand for Xboxes.
Since MS hardly does any marketing here in Germany and (still) doesn't have a killer app, I assume the gap will widen now.
I agree. Anytime MS buys a studio, said studio goes on radio silence for a few years. How long does it take to get a Senua game out of the door ffs
From my EU POV I'm also just puzzled by the (lack of) marketing strategy in this region.
Xbox is clearly the Huawei to PlayStations Iphone in the EU. Europeans prefer Playstation and nobody expects Xbox to win this market.
That said, at least put up a fight. MS has a ton of money and they were gifted a 2 yr period where PS5s were unavailable or super expensive.
Did Xbox use this to time to run a shitload of ads or commercials here?
Did they do promotions in stores to explain what Gamepass is and does?
Fuck, if I was MS I would have run a simple ad like this:
"Look, a PS5 is 800€ on eBay right now but you can play next gen FIFA and CoD right now for just 299€ on Series S. Come pick one up right now, we have stock! And for just 10€ per month you can get Gamepass and get access to these games [show some of the biggest]."
But MS just sat on their hands, never saw any commercial or even an ad on the busstop or sth