Microsoft may have sold around 3.5 million Xbox One X|S units

Though Sony is once again winning the console wars, the difference may not be as pronounced this time around. A new estimate from Danial Ahmad, Senior Analyst at Niko Partners, suggests that Microsoft is doing much better this time around than it did with the Xbox One.

Based on Sony’s latest earnings report, we know that the company sold over 4.5 million PS5 units in the last quarter of 2020. According to Ahmad, Microsoft may have sold around 1 million fewer consoles than the PS5, bringing the total sales for the Xbox Series X|S to around 3.5 million units.

Take a bit over 1 million off the PS5 number and you won't be far off.

— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) February 3, 2021

That’s a significant improvement compared to the last generation, where Sony was easily selling 2x more consoles than Microsoft. Note also that these numbers may not necessarily represent the ‘true’ popularity of either console. Both companies have faced significant production issues, and demand far outweighs supply; in a world where shortages weren’t a concern, those numbers might have looked quite different from what they are now.

Still, the Xbox Series X|S launch has been the biggest console launch in Microsoft’s history, and it reportedly sold over 1 million units within the first 24 hours of launch. And all of that’s despite a strategic shift inside the company, as it focuses on boosting subscriptions to its Xbox Game Pass and game streaming services.