Xbox Series X and S are estimated to have been shipped more than 12 million times
More than 12 million Xbox Series X and S consoles are believed to have been shipped. This is evident from statements by Xbox CEO Phil Spencer, who says that despite the shortages, more Xbox Series consoles have been delivered than predecessors in the same period after their release.
Microsoft has stopped giving sales figures for Xbox consoles for years, but Spencer says in an interview with New York Times that more Xbox Series consoles have been sold today than any other generation Xbox console at a comparable time after release. It therefore concerns the deliveries in the first 14 months after the release. The Xbox Series consoles have been available since November 10, 2020.
Microsoft Xbox Series X
According to Spencer, the shortage of consoles is not so much due to lower production numbers, but due to higher demand than in previous generations. Analyst Daniel Ahmad concludes based on statements that more than 12 million Xbox Series consoles were shipped. He arrives at that numbers by comparing to delivered numbers of Xbox consoles of previous generations.
It’s not clear how many ‘more’ than 12 million Xbox Series consoles have been shipped, but Spencer says Microsoft didn’t see the huge growth in demand coming. That indicates that Microsoft has not pre-purchased the production capacity to make many more copies. Spencer says the company was unable to supply enough Xbox consoles to meet demand in March, April and May 2021, for example. That has never happened to the company in those months.
PlayStation 5 sales
Sony had sold 13.4 million PlayStation 5 consoles at the end of September last year. It is not yet known how many there are now. Sony mentions the sales figures with its quarterly figures. Sales of the PS5 are in line with those of the PS4 in the comparable period after release, but the PS5 is still very poorly available a year after release. The demand is significantly greater than the supply.
The Xbox Series S is generally a lot more available than the Xbox Series X and the PlayStation 5. Microsoft’s cheaper console has a much smaller chip, making it less affected by chip shortages. After all, more chips can be made for the Series S console per wafer. Spencer said last year that the shortages occur in many more parts. Specifically, he mentioned Ethernet ports.
Electronics manufacturers and chip makers expect the shortages to continue into 2022. AMD said in September last year that it expects deficits to ease in the second half of this year. Both the Xbox Series consoles and the PlayStation 5 are equipped with a chip from AMD.