Next-generation consoles officially launched in November 2020, but many fans are still waiting to get their hands on the systems. The PS5 and Xbox Series X have been available for a while now, but supply cannot meet demand due to the ongoing chip shortage. The new stock gets sold out almost instantly, so some customers resort to purchasing consoles from scalpers.
Earlier this month, Sony mentioned that it plans to significantly increase PS5 production. This news came alongside an announcement confirming that the PS5 had sold over 20 million units worldwide. On the other hand, the total sales of Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S are unknown. Since both PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles are not readily available on store shelves, it can be difficult to analyze the demand for either system. While the weekly or monthly hardware sales may not paint a clear picture of the market, the data still reveals some interesting trends related to consumer spending.
Xbox Series X outsold PS5 once again in Japan for the week beginning on June 13. This data came from Famitsu and was later reported by Pure Xbox. It states that Xbox Series X sold 3,272 units last week, while both digital and disc versions of the PS5 sold a total of 3,035 consoles. The Xbox Series S outsold them both, as it managed 3,423 last week. This puts the total number of Xbox Series consoles at 6,695, more than double the combined sales of both PS5 versions.
This marks the second time Xbox consoles sold more than PlayStation systems in Japan this year, with the first report being from May 2022. From May 9 to May 15, Microsoft sold 6,225 Xbox Series units as compared to 2,963 PlayStation 5 consoles. In both cases, Xbox Series devices managed to sell more than double the number of PS5 units. It should be noted that the PlayStation 5 is still far ahead of Xbox Series consoles in lifetime sales. However, Xbox Series X and S mark a massive improvement over the sales of Xbox One in the region.
As both PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles are supply-constrained due to the ongoing chip shortage, many customers are probably opting for whatever current-generation system they can get. Xbox Series S is more readily available, which could be a possible reason for it taking the crown last week. However, no system is anywhere near the Nintendo Switch, which sold 50,405 units across its three models during the same week.