An analyst firm has recently revealed that Microsoft has sold 18.5 million units of their Xbox Series X and Series S consoles. In a recently published review of how the console market looked in 2022, Ampere Analysis Insights estimated that Microsoft had hit 18.5 million sales by the end of last year. The review’s author, Piers Harding-Rolls, notes that despite the stock shortages for popular consoles (mainly the PS5 and Xbox Series X), Xbox still managed to see an increase in unit sales. This can be attributed to the availability of the Xbox Series S.
“The potential for better performance in 2022 was undermined by the lack of availability of PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X console hardware and some major games releases being delayed into 2023 and later.” Harding-Rolls says. “Add into this mix a post-pandemic shift in consumer attention and a macroeconomic landscape which deteriorated through the year, and it becomes clear 2022 was a challenging year as the industry adjusted to a collection of commercial headwinds.”
After many years of shortages, mainly due to the global pandemic, Sony recently announced that hardware shortages were coming to an end. They also believe that it will now be “much easier” to find a PS5. However, Microsoft have not made the same announcement as their rivals, meaning it might still be difficult to get your hands on the Xbox Series X.
As a result of this, Harding-Rolls believes the gap will widen between unit sales for PS5 and Xbox Series X in the starting months of 2023. At least until the Xbox Series X becomes more readily available. “Ampere expects the gap between PlayStation and Xbox unit sales to widen in the first half of 2023, with Xbox Series X only becoming more consistently available in the second half of the year.”
Finally, the report details how money spent on console subscription services increased in 2022, coming in at a 5.6% raise to hit $7.8 billion. Additionally, Xbox reached an all-time high for Xbox Game Pass subscribers in the final three months of the year. Microsoft’s share of the gaming market also increased last year from 25.5% in 2021 up to 27.3% in 2022. This is thanks to a combination of hardware, game content and subscription sales. Unfortunately, Sony did not perform as well and dropped from 46.3% to 45%.
Do you think these figures would be different if it wasn’t for the shortages? Let us know in the comments and stay tuned to GameLuster for more gaming news!
