The recently released Xbox One sales numbers point toward an unimpressive show in the region
Microsoft Corporation’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Xbox One was launched in Japan on September 4, 2014. Last week, Microsoft Japan acknowledged the console’s one-year birthday in the region by announcing on its official Twitter account: “Today, it’s exactly one year since the launch of the Xbox One in Japan! Thank you for your future support!!”
While the Xbox One has been coming up with good exclusives and better value for gamers, Sony Corp.’s (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) PlayStation 4 remains this generation’s clear winner. After a year in Japan, Xbox One’s sales performance does not paint a pretty picture.
It is common knowledge that the Xbox console has not been popular in Japanese territories and that the previous-generation Xbox 360 did not perform very well during its run. However, if the recent data from MediaCreate (via DualShockers) is anything to go by, the Xbox One has reached a new low, selling only 54,813 units in the entire year. Apart from the few unusual spikes, excluding initial ones made by the console around its launch in the country, the sales have been downright appalling, further supporting the notion that the product has failed in the first year of its sale.
It may be a popular opinion that the Japanese do not prefer buying foreign products; however, it can’t be farther from the truth. They like buying products that are considered as a status symbol, or in other words, “cool.” While the root cause of Xbox One’s failure cannot be pinpointed to anything specific, it looks like the marketing strategy used by Microsoft is not working in the Japanese market.
But all is not lost. The company is still working to attract more customers in the region. It is focusing on maintaining relationships with developers in Japan and in the process has managed to bag some big exclusives as well.
Will exclusives like Scalebound help the console to make a comeback in Japan? Only time will tell. For now, we wish the Xbox One happy first birthday in Japan and hope that the second one turns out to be better.
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