A Change in the Japanese hardware market?

Nintendo and Sony have always dominated the hardware sales market in Japan, but is this the start of a change?

[ABizzel1]

That was a lot to say that Xbox has a good week in JP, while PS had a slow week, but PS5 has sold 1.3m consoles, meanwhile Series consoles have sold around 140k, nearly 10:1 lead.

It means the Series consoles are receiving much more praise this generation in comparison to the AWFUL XBO generation they had. The Series Consoles are what people expected after the success of the 360, so there is more good faith in Xbox with all the acquisitions, good hardware, and value options and services.

Once more big AAA Japanese games launch then the PS5 will take off again (Elden Ring, and I wouldn't be surprised if there is a PS5 restock this week), as well as, when the PS5 slim releases with a lower price, and possibly a smaller form factor.

As for the Series consoles, their next goal should be selling 4x as many consoles to surpass the Original Xbox sales in JP, and 11x their current number to surpass the 360 and make the Series consoles the best selling Xbox ever in Japan. So they need to increase their units sold drastically

[XiNatsuDragnel]

I agree good luck to them

[glennhkboy]

Elden Ring is a multi-platform game. Japanese Series S owner can also play that. GT7 will be a batter example. On the other hand, GT7 can also be played on PS4, so GT7 itself may not affect the overall PS5 sales that much.

[ABizzel1]

Elden Ring is a prime example, because regardless of what it's also on, it's going to sell SIGNFICANTLY more on PS hardware globally, and would be a console seller for PS. We're in a time where adoption rate is transitioning from the older consoles. Many of these games are cross-gen, yet the PS5 version is still consistently the better selling version when it's only 1/6th of the PS4s install base.

[notachance]

PS5 only sold that much because there's a severe stock issues, people need to take lotteries to even have the chance to buy a PS5 unless they buy from scalpers.

[blackblades]

I just wanna know when will the stock issue will be solved. It's been 1+ years

[notachance]

@blackblades until the global chip shortage ended. it's not just consoles, many electronics also suffer from the same issues from tvs, cameras, gpus, even cars

[fr0sty]

This article is grasping at straws, lol. Desperate for a "win" (if you want to call a multi-billion dollar company making money you'll never see a dime of a "win") over there, I guess.

[Mopes]

I think Xbox's goal should be reaching more of the SE Asian audiences. This is the way they could get ahead of Sony and Nintendo (obviously just on the cloud side of things) is by getting a working cloud gaming business out there. That is what they have currently that is unique over Sony and Nintendo. Getting a good lead before Sony and Nintendo act would be important for them and would probably see their hardware presence increase moving forward too.

[ApocalypseShadow]

Wishful thinking on the article writer's part because of a lack of hardware availability. Worldwide, the gap would be much larger between the two if Sony had more hardware made and available to sell. That includes Japan.

Taking one day, week or month out of entire quarter or year is not an accurate barometer. It needs to be consistent to say there was a change in Japan towards greener pastures.

[glennhkboy]

This trend is already quite consistent for over 6 months now. Series S has been selling close to or even surpass the PS5. In Japan, small form factor IS VERY IMPORTENT.

[GamingSinceForever]

You cannot find a PS5 or Series X on store shelves, so the Series S outselling anything is purely by default. You can walk into about any store and find a series S. Why? It’s because in reality not many people want one.

[OB1Biker]

‘Series S has been selling close to or even surpass the PS5. ‘
That’s got to be one of the shameless lies I’ve ever seen and some people agree with it.

[REDDURT]

The American media and Xbox fanboys have been trying to convince the public that Xbox is the console to have but it’s not working because they have the same problem they always have.

[porkChop]

Eh... The Series consoles are selling very well compared to previous generations. However they aren't going to overtake PS or Nintendo in the region.

[Godmars290]

Yes. Way from consoles towards mobile. Been happening for years.

Not going to say since HD's introduction, what chasing after that dragon did in general to the market there and elsewhere, but...

[talocaca]

As a Tokyo resident, I constantly see Series S stock (I actually bought one a few months back just because they've had it in stock).

However, getting a PS5 around here remains IMPOSSIBLE. I was lucky enough to get an Amazon preorder, but otherwise the only way to get one around here is by entering a Lottery (all retailers have them) and the possibility if actually winning is usually under 5%.

[blackblades]

The series s always instock everywhere to be honest. The series s is the one more people want and hard to get.

[lonewolf10]

What about SeriesX, many of them up for grabs?

[DefaultComment]

Microsoft had always bad luck in Japan, except on the X360 when for some reason felt like the Dreamcast. Sony used to dominate Japan, but now...they are nothing in their homeladn, so much that they moved tghier offices and HQ to Calidfornia and basically westernize the Japanese company....so the king in Japan is Nintendo nowadays.
Now is that gonna stay permantent...I doubt it but Nintendo has it's big chunk of the pie and I don't think they'll let that go.

[ABizzel1]

MS hasn't had bad luck, it's just not wanted in JP by the majority. Games that the JP audience want are the games developers in the country make, and often times those games NEVER come to Xbox because the consoles sales are generally bad in the region, and the games wouldn't sell well globally on that console.

Home console sales in general tanked in Japan with both Sony and Nintendo not being able to break 20m sold in the region with their last several home consoles. The PS2 was the last console to do that, so the PS3, PS4, Wii, and Wii U all failed to hit 20m, with it seeming like 10m - 15m is the new max for home consoles in Japan.

Handheld / Mobile / On the Go gaming is big in Japan, and that why Nintendo's handhelds including the Switch have all be so vastly successful, every Nintendo handheld except the GBA has sold over 20m units in the region.

So as long as Sony keeps making consoles only they're going to be stuck at the 10m - 15m MAX, and that number is close to shrinking. As long as Xbox is dead last when it comes to JP support, it will never sell well in JP. And as long as Nintendo keeps making handhelds they will always be the lead selling platform in that region in comparison to the other consoles.

Which is why Sony moving West makes sense (EU and NA are the two largest gaming regions). It's why Xbox barely tries in JP (They'd be fighting and spending billions, only to sell maybe 1 - 2 million consoles there, instead of focusing on emerging markets or growing share in NA / EU).

[DefaultComment]

IDK about your Xbox info, since I remember when the Xbox 360 was launched it had a niche appeal to the Japanese audience with some games releases but for some reason Microsoft decided not to an there you go, bue xbox in Jp. I do agree that nowadays Microsoft takes big loses to maintain the Brand "xbox" relevant in a market that doesn't give a crap about it but this is something that big companies do around the world so it's not a surpised to anyone.

Before we getting into the Sony part you need to understand that the Switch is NOT A HANDHELD, it's a hybrid console, period that's how it's marketed and that's how you should treat it, so denying it is foolsish,
Now then about Sony It's not just about selling handhelds only. Portability is a big factor but it will only get you this far It's about games as well. No point in having portability if you have boring or bad games. Not to mention that the switch hald sold over 20 million from March 2017 to May 2021 so that "Curse" that only the ps2 managed to break it, guess what? So did the Switch but nobody is making a fuss of it.

[ABizzel1]

The 360 sold over 1.6 million consoles in Japan. As per their own reported numbers. Squids are supposed to have good memories.

The Switch is a handheld with a docking station, same as the PSP eventually was, same as the Steam Deck, and basically the same as any mobile device with an HDMI / HDMI mini port since over a decade ago, and further proven by the existence of the Switch Lite which can't dock without modding. So by that logical it's hybrids all over the place. They're not cellphone anymore they're hybrid-cellphones now, and hybrid-tablets, and hybrid-laptops, and hybrid-PCs not handheld PCs.

A company can market a duck as a dog alternative all they want, but if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, looks like a duck, and its core DNA is a duck, then it's a duck (or in this case a handheld), so denying it is "FOOLISH".

As for the rest of your comment, it's the definition of trying to go somewhere and going nowhere. Now I agree with you on having games, which is why the home consoles of Nintendo have struggled generation after generation after generation until the Wii, and then to their worst generation ever with the Wii U, because many of those JP games went to PS especially during the PS2 era, and during the PS3 / Wii era there was a split between the HD AAA games and the developers who wanted to stay on SD content. It's also why the Wii U struggled so hard because Sony and MS had already went through years of trail and error with the PS360 transition to HD, and Nintendo was entering that struggle for the first time with Wii U and had such inferior / and non-traditional hardware backed by having to stream games to a phablet that they lost support, until they dumped the console and made a more streamline phablet in the Switch that could dock to the TV.

But honestly what did any of that have to do with anything you said prior. Nothing. Someone grab some salt and soy sauce for this squid, it's done.

[DefaultComment]

Oh boy this guy, first thing the quacks like a duck, looks like a duck BS is something that is called abductive reasoning, that just because there are similaties, it's doesn't necessary mean it's true. would you say that anything that has wheels it's a car? Of course not, same reasoning here are you gonna called the steam deck a handheld too, becuase it has the power of a gamig PC and yet nobody it's calling it a computer....cause it's a hybrid!,similarities don't mean it's one thing or the other boy.

I'm not gonna argue more about Sony, cause according to you they make home consoles and Nintendo doesn't....which I'm not gonna waste into convincing you shit that you have stuck in your brain.All I was saying that Nintendo also broke the paradigm that home consoles in Japan don't sell well, which they already surpassed 20 million since last year and that's what I mean.

Microsfot more than bad lñuck I would say Microsoft had a bad marketing all these years to give a reason to the Japanese consumer to even consider to buy an Xbox...when hardly any of their big games appeal to them.

Yeah I do agree that nitendo screwed up not by making home consoles but by distancing 3rd party support from them, it' was just that simple. While it's true that they currently aren't making top of the notch in terms of hardware power they have proven time and time that you don't need to have the most powerfult hardware but the most appealing games, something that Nintendo themselves has manage to outperform the rest of the industry and also by themselves mind you.

[ABizzel1]

I don't disagree with anything you said in this most recent post, outside of the Switch pretending to be this hybrid. We can agree to disagree on that point.

[xetiro]

I live in Japan for almost 10 years and I don't feel any market difference when it comes to Xbox Series vs PS5 this time around.

It's nearly impossible to find a PS5 in Japan and major stores here are tightly controlling the sales 1 per person, by requiring store-specific credit card...when they have stock.

Xbox is not easier although once in a while there is decent XSS restock for which stores usually don't require credit card on the XSS case. I myself was able to buy a XSS ~2 months before could get a PS5.

Overall, Xbox Series sales in Japan are clearly piggybacking on PS5 instant soldouts. When there are re-stock of both, everybody wants a PS5 and many of them ended up to take a Xbox after PS5 solds out quickly.

I guess if both machines had no stock issues, the difference between Xbox Series and PS5 would be much greater than this numbers currently shows.

[melmacj]

Don't Care. Gaming has changed so much anyway. Lose it lead it who cares. More important things in the world to discuss.

[quenomamen]

They been saying this since the first Xbox.

[Petebloodyonion]

How about we wait for 2 years and then discuss?
The only thing we know for sure at this point is that MS is doing better with Series S/X compared to Xbox 1.

[OB1Biker]

Here we go again. The tables upside down, the tide turning and the momentum going all again since 2014.
LOL

[AuraAbjure]

I think Japanese gamers prefer going to play video games in underground arcades. I played super crazy decked out Gundam Wing arcade- style games with them, you know with the big ass buttons and several joysticks. It's a totally different experience than playing at home with a gamepad.

[gold_drake]

xbox has one "good" week in however long in japan, and some people absolutely lose their shit haha.

japan is not xbox land, thats it.

[Fist4achin]

Yawn... This is stupid. I'm sure sales overall would be better for everyone if there were more consoles available. I still haven't made the next gen jump. I'm still rocking my PS4 pro and xbone s and I will until I can find one in the store or at least order online and have it shipped immediately. I have no shortage of games as I have a healthy backlog, so I can wait.

[frostypants]

No.