Neuromancer
Member
You don't think having an excess of stock during the holidays or so soon afterwards could possibly be troubling?
GameStop sure seems to be pushing the Xbone hard...
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dead souls
Member
Yeah, I don't get why people are downplaying that.
Obviously nothing is conclusive until we see some sales numbers, but it seems like either Microsoft has a crazy amount of supply or people just aren't that interested in getting a One. MS better pray it isn't the latter, though I suspect that may be the case.
Having poor sales in Dec or Jan NPD (see Wii U) would be troubling. Having consoles for little Johnny to buy with his gift card is probably wise.
Edit: I haven't seen an xb1 in store since early December...it would be just as silly for me to say OMG XBOX IZ BEST SELLING EVA. These snapshots are just that and don't mean anything unless we know the restock rate which we don't.
makingmusic476
Member
I really don't get why some are so quick to rule out the possibility of slow sales. The Xbox is $499.
The ps3, the follow up to the best selling console of all time, stumbled out the gate at $499/599.
It took a price drop, a lot of games, and a whole lot of brand power to recover.
NightBlade
Banned
You also must remember that the PS4 is available in more countries then X1 as well
Flying Toaster
Member
Pretty much this. MS will be spending a lot of time to rebuild brand loyalty for those that are multi console owners. There are still the diehards that are purchasing Xbox Ones because they had a 360 but to catch the rest of the crowd there will be some work on MS's part.
ultratruman
Banned
I remember the same 'well isn't it a great there's so much unsold stock' defensive during the launch of a certain other console last year.
CadetMahoney
Member
this, and looks desperate too, trying to get rid of hard to move stock.
missed opportunity for a 50 page thread tbh.
Bingo. They always state that non-approved marketing materials cant be used (anything that isnt received in a marketing kit). Balloons and the like are ok though. Self made signs arent.
They are...just PS4 instasell as soon as received. All that bad publicity early on for Xbox One... not to mention the price difference. Thats probably why 360 got such a big lead last generation,
Because MS sold ~1m consoles in November and December sales are almost always greater? Anything is possible but the xb1 would have had to have had an amazing collapse to validate some of the posts here.
Flying Toaster
Member
There was a flyer being passed around at the gamestop closest to me on Saturday explaining the merits of the Xbox One.
I am not at Gamestop very often, do they publish things like this a lot?
n00bsauce87
Member
That's what I gather the issue is. PS4 is the newer gaming console. There really isn't any need of explanation except you need PS+ to play online multiplayer. Only about 15-20% of new owners would need to hear that info (not scientific or researched numbers). But other than that, they will either buy it or not.
hey_it's_that_dog
benevolent sexism
Surely you can see a difference between products on shelves (which is common and unremarkable) and a big center table with hand made flyers and corrections of common misunderstandings about a product. One appears more desperate than the other.
We don't have enough concrete information about anything to say it's because there's zero demand or anything like that, but I can say with great confidence that this has the *appearance* of desperation. It could be because of a true glut of stock with no demand, or it could be because this manager wants to sell this stock a lot and isn't giving much consideration to how it looks.
edit: if the comment I was replying to was actually more about the idea that this Gamestop is "teh bias" in favor of MS, I agree that there isn't clear evidence for that particular interpretation over others.
hey_it's_that_dog
benevolent sexism
It suggests there are too many X1's in the channel and this is interesting to many people, as many, many threads over the last several weeks have demonstrated.
I do believe you're grasping at straws here. There are a great many customers who walk into GameStop everyday who believe that both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 play XB360 and PS3 games respectively. It is a nightmare educating consumers about these machines because they can't be bothered to look up the information on their expensive ass iphones/galaxy s3s. We still have customers who believe any PS3 will play PS2 games.
The more blunt you are about information, the better off you are.
Also, the handmade signs, balloons and tables are done throughout the year for a variety of events and reasons. If Sony would send out PS4s at the same clip MS sends Xbox Ones, they would be on the tables as well.
Bam Bam Baklava
Member
Why are there so many people in this thread that are so sure that the ONLY explanation for this is that Microsoft is stocking more than Sony. That lower demand could not possibly be a valid explanation. Also, why not both?
TonkuySlon
Banned
Look at the sales figures...It's not like PS4 sold 2mil and XOne 500k...Why are you so sure there is a lack of demand considering the sales numbers already public? Especially in the US.
BlastProcessing
Member
Meanwhile, in Europe.
Hello? Xbox One, available for sale! Who are you to resist it huh? Come on my last paycheck bounced. My children need wine!
Great points.
At a higher price point some people could just be making the decision not to buy an Xbone right now. This, coupled with Sony's pricing, hopefully puts pressure on Microsoft to drop the price sooner rather than later.
Also, what boggles my mind is if Microsoft is flooding the North American Market, why not direct all those unsold Xbones to territories that are still waiting for your console? I mean, hell, if you have X amount of unserved customers in another territory who would buy today then get them some consoles that aren't being bought over here.
Bam Bam Baklava
Member
I'm not sure that's the thing. I don't presume anything. But isn't that the whole point? Both seem to be shipping a virtually even pace right now and yet one is sold out and the other one isn't.
What is the margin in the US? 50k? 100k? More? If there were 50k more PS4's being sent to the US would it be in plentiful stock like Xbox?
These are the questions I'm asking.
hey_it's_that_dog
benevolent sexism
I'm not saying the information isn't useful to consumers. I'm saying a display like this conveys more meaning than may be intended. It suggests that they have lots of X1s and no PS4s, which at first blush suggests to the consumer that one is more desirable than the other, given the holiday context. These are automatic, intuitive judgments people will make, and unless they are corrected by more deliberate thinking, they will drive the conclusions consumers make. The average consumer isn't going to think about supply quantities or number of countries in which the product launched. They'll just see that one is sold out and one is being pushed extra hard. I tried to emphasize that it *appears* desperate because it is easily perceived that way. I also said it doesn't mean Gamestop is actually desperate.
If they had both PS4s and X1s I don't think there would be tables at all. The every-day setup of a Gamestop features console boxes prominently in windows and plenty of other signage. A special display with a pile of what is supposed to be the "hot item" this Christmas raises suspicion.
I don't think it's really a big deal, but I don't think I'm grasping at anything either.
Thousands of active forum members who are video game enthusiasts...are you really salty enough to doubt that a few dozen members work at video game retail outlets?
willskate4free
Member
Talked to the local gamestop guys here in my town.. this is what they told me - they are getting about the same number of units in (xbone and ps4) , but with the difference being they'll get a bunch of ps4s in at one time and the xbones come in a little every so often ... they said though that ps4s sell out as soon as they get them.. xbones will still be around when the next shipment comes in so they have ample (the stock they get in doesn't sell out).... take that for what its worth.
Because that's what the data we have tells us. PS4s sell out quickly after being re-stocked. PS4 had bigger US and UK launch. It's higher on online best-seller charts and wish lists.
You'd have to be a fool to think there's low PS4 demand. There isn't.
Just last week PS4 went back in stock at Amazon. Shot straight to #1 and stayed there for about 3 days. Xbox One was in stock too and it between #10 and #20 at different points in time.
Clearly there is high PS4 demand. Higher than there is stock.
Don't be so sure. November sales included months and months of pre-orders. December sales coming in a few hundred thousand lower than November wouldn't surprise me. This goes for both consoles BTW.
Yeah, pre-launch misinformation was ridiculous.
Not true at all about being "flooded", in fact there was a thread about the PS4 EU launch and there were not a "flood" of "made in japan" PS4 consoles which was rumored. Fact is most of the people were showing evidence of "made in China" consoles.
hey_it's_that_dog
benevolent sexism
I think Style Fox was talking about people not accepting the possibility that there's lower demand for X1, and that they choose to believe it's definitely better supply causing the accumulation of X1s on shelves.
iJudged
Banned
Omg haha
wow, now thats just sad lol
Cornbread78
Member
My local Wal-mart still has about 6 XB1s left from the last shipment we received before XMas.
My walmart still had a Day One edition on Crhistmas Eve at closing, it was really funny
Stores need to sell units. If they're not getting rid of them, Gamestop needs to push dat shit. Doesn't really seem like bias.
I went to a Gamestop for the first time in what seems like forever this past week to pick up a Vita and some games. There was a guy who just walked in and out of the store, with an Xbox One. I was pretty surprised at how easy it seemed to get a XBox One at this time of year.
I went to a Gamestop for the first time in what seems like forever this past week to pick up a Vita and some games. There was a guy who just walked in and out of the store, with an Xbox One. I was pretty surprised at how easy it seemed to get a XBox One at this time of year.
Funny how they didn't do that with the Wii U...
FranXico
Member
I'm tired of seeing people blaming supposedly "low sales" (which they aren't, the Xbox One is selling just fine) on "misinformation".
The "misinformation" is entirely Microsoft's fault, they have absolutely no right to play the victim after preparing to grab a market through anti-consumer policies.
Having said that, clarifying consumers is OK, but be honest about it. "The used game policies were removed" sends a far better, clearer and more honest message than the disingenuous "Get The Facts" campaign that is literally trying to erase consumer's memory of past May to August.
The "misinformation" is entirely Microsoft's fault, they have absolutely no right to play the victim after preparing to grab a market through anti-consumer policies.
Having said that, clarifying consumers is OK, but be honest about it. "The used game policies were removed" sends a far better, clearer and more honest message than the disingenuous "Get The Facts" campaign that is literally trying to erase consumer's memory of past May to August.
IHaveCandy
Banned
I'd guess it's more likely that they have a lot of Xbox Ones and are sold out of PS4s still. So you gotta push what you got, right? When sales goals need to be met, you don't care what people buy as long as they are buying.
FranXico
Member
Fanboy or not, it is his job to sell his stock.
Cornbread78
Member
Damn, layaway restock? That black box was pretty sexy..
This may be so, however, as a manager he should know he cannot use advertising material outside of what was given to him. Granted he or she could have asked to make the sign because they were getting asked wayyy too much.
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