Xbox Series S Reportedly Dominated This Year's Black Friday Console Sales

Nice job for the little guy. But I wonder if MS will launch XSS with more storage and more... colors. A black one would be cool

I bought an Xbox Seeies S when it was released in 2020. Being able to buy it in store at a reasonable price (MSRP) was absolutely a factor in that decision, and I don't regret the purchase at all.

@Savage_Joe colors would be brilliant or LEs.

I have a series x from launch. I can see why the S is outselling it since the s is the only next gen console ever in stock. I wonder if that would be the case if the X had the same supply.

I had the option between an S or an X but went with the S for both the price and the small size (I have to travel often and take it with me easily). If I had an OLED I would have gone with the X but I have been thrilled with the S.

The sales numbers for PS5 and Xbox Series are fairly meaningless. They are selling 100% of what they produce instantly.

Xbox Series S leading sales doesn't mean more people wanted it. It means that that console is what Microsoft was able to produce the most of in the window they were measuring.

I have the S and am enjoying it. However i only grabbed it because it was easily available and i got tire of waiting for an X. I will eventually grab an X when theres an actual chance

I would of bought the Series S if it had a disc drive..

I personally don’t like the Series s and wish Microsoft had stuck with just one model and maybe a disc less series x.
But due to unforeseen and unfortunate circumstances it has found it’s self selling well.
So fair play to the Series s.

What is staggering to me is how Microsoft have only managed to manufacture about 4.5 million series x consoles compared to Sony making 14 million PlayStation 5 consoles.
They need to get there supply and assembly chain in order and start making more series x.
In the UK yesterday, Saturday we have a good few series x drops and even I was shocked how quick they sold out.
One main retailer showed around 10 to 15 available in each store, not long after one hour ish, those numbers dropped quick and then all sold out.
Not that trillion dollar Microsoft are that bothered but they are missing opportunities here with the series x.

I think Xbox is on a very good roll with good momentum especially in the UK they need to supply more series x. Even certain Xbox merchandise sells well over here.

@evan23 I don’t think anyone thinks it’s more popular, but I do think it’s a good chance to swoop in and sell a lot of models during one the busiest times in US shopping.

@Dezzy70 Well I think you are forgetting that Sony went back and redesigned the PS5 to be able to make more. MS doesn’t need to do that because the S is selling.

@SplooshDmg well played.

@mousieone
The series s is selling ok in the UK due to certain circumstances. That’s good for Xbox.
You miss my point, they could be selling a lot more series x if they had made more and increasing Xbox percentage and probably selling more game pass etc.
The PS5 has the same chip issues as the series x
It’s probably more to do with Sony are a big Asian manufacture as well TVs etc. the chips are made in Asia, so maybe Asia are looking after their own interests and market economy.

At the end of the day if you have a product like the series x the UK want to buy, then make more and sell them.
There is an old English saying.
“Make hay while the sun shines”

@mousieone
Also if Sony went back to the PS5 redesign if true due to technical reasons.
Also they didn’t do a good job either, louder then my series x, bigger than my series x, needs a stand to help it be stable, need to open it up to added more ssd memory and slightly less powerful.
That’s not what I call a good redesign.

I want to buy all my friends a series s. Perfect to play games with them and a step up from the last generation and the switch.

@Liam_Doolan you missed the word 'million' in the last paragraph.

Pricing & actually being in stock helps, I got one with my phone upgrade wonder if that's classed as a sale?

I’m still not sure I like the idea of it, only in the sense it’ll possible hold back the series X in some ways. MS teams going forward have to develop for 2 systems with differing specs, Sony are not held back in the same regard going forward.

However there is obviously a demand for it and the series S is insane value for money, especially coupled with Gamepass. Like someone above said if you still have a 1080p TV you can’t go wrong with the S. it has its place.

How will the Series S hold anything back? The Series S and X use the exact same development tools and the games are simply scaled to match the console. It’s exactly the same as a PC with lower specs VS one with higher specs.
The Series S wont hold anything back.

@Dezzy70 "But due to unforeseen and unfortunate circumstances it has found it’s self selling well."

It's not unfortunate nor is it unforeseen. You are just hyper obsessed on everyone buying an owning an xbox series X for some reason. You have your xbox series X, and that should be the end of it. Enjoy it, and stop worrying about others buying it. That's not your job.

The S is selling because it's cheap and great value for money. Not everybody wants to, or can afford to, drop £450 for a console. Some people are buying for their kids, some don't use 4K, some would like to spend the extra £200 on accessories and games instead, and others would just play casually and that kind of cost investment doesn't make sense. And all of that is fine. Not everyone needs to do your hobby the same way you do.

And all of that is well known. MS have known, and talked, about the sweet spot console pricing to sell a console to families over a decade ago. MS knew full well that a budget console could easily be marketed towards those that buy cheap and those on the fence.

I bought two Series S, so my spouse and I can game together and instead of spending $1000 I spent $400. I sold a Switch for a couple hundred beforehand, so it can turn into incredible value and households will have multiple of these, just like Switch.

@Dezzy70 Not everyone cares about 4k or physical media. There's no reason to think Series S has special circumstances or to hate it. That's just myopic. Families will want these and couples as well as people on budgets. They'll get more people into Halo matches, more people playing Bethesda rpgs and more Gamepass subs to support Xbox studios.

X is there for enthusiasts and people who want high-end but forcing it on everyone is not the way. Options are better.

I now prefer digital games over a stack of physical media, I don’t have a 4K TV, and have never owned an Xbox before so the S was the perfect choice for me. I suspect at least part of the reason it’s selling well is there are others like me who are happy to get a latest version console at an affordable price. When I get a PS5 it will be the disc based version so I can still play my stack of PS4 games.

Awesome for MS and gaming in general.

It’s a great machine but come on!!! Wat ya saying is it outsold Xbox One an PS4!! Guess wat, Big Macs outsold rocking horse ***** too!! 😂😂😂

@Dezzy70 PS5 is not louder at all. I have both side by side an they’re both silent. PS5 is taller but slimmer, i actually like tho look of the PS5 wen it’s stood verticle, XSX looks better horizontal. Also the extended SSD in the PS5 is way ahead of extended SSD in XSX. The PS5 SSD has a Read Bandwidth of 5.5 GB/s (Raw) and 8-9 GB/s (Compressed), while the SSD in the Xbox Series X|S has a Read Bandwidth of 2.4 GB/s (Raw) and 4.8 GB/s (compressed). They’re identical for now but PS5 SSD will cope much better in 2 to 3 years time.

@Medic_Alert i hope you’re right, like i said, i own both machines. I’m not a PS fan or an Xbox fan, i’m a gaming fan. Those bigger numbers will surely come in to play somewhere tho. I mean if i’m right Xbox could simply release a new, updated extended SSD in the future.

@Fenbops @SplooshDmg It feels more like Microsoft's strategy is to let the cloud handle games for lower spec machines. So in 2022, native XB1 support ends and if you want to play games like Redfall and Starfield on XB1 it's via xCloud. Then say in 2025, if you want to play games on your Series S it's via xCloud while Series X still gets native support.

@Grumblevolcano that’s a good point to be fair.

@Dezzy70 actually Apple and Google are taking most of the chips well them and Samsung. It’s not an Asian thing is a bigger company securing chips decades in advance.

The Sony redesign was to reduce chip size to make more not make a different one The redesign didn’t start hitting shelves until Summer this year so you probably have the original design.

Anyway, people are buying the XSS, and they can make more them to hit shelves. Not making XSS isn’t going to allowing them to make more XSX.

@sjbsixpack That luxury rocking horse market is hot.

Thank you all for your replies and some great opinions and points of view.
I just about get Microsoft Xbox strategy and still sort of don’t. When it comes to making more of product that is in extremely high demand the series x.
My brain just thinks if you have a very hot product make more and sell more whilst it is hot and this should have been thought of more as this year went by.
It’s true though let’s just enjoy gaming especially with Halo Infinite just around the corner. 😊

@Grumblevolcano
I like that strategy, as soon as they can unleash the full power of the series x to take advantage in game development the better.

You also have to remember that Microsoft have been using the same 'chips' to upgrade their servers for Game Pass streaming. The fact that you can play 'next-gen' games via streaming on to an Xbox One for example is because MS have upgraded their servers to Series chips.

Those chips could of been used to make consoles and no-doubt increased the availability of the hardware. However, that would of impacted on their Game Pass mobile/streaming plans and the games they could offer too. By upgrading their servers and bringing Streaming to XB1, they are able to offer 'next' gen games to a much larger consumer base.

Amongst the most 'dedicated' of gamers living in more affluent regions of the world (like the UK, US), the Series S may seem 'pointless' - nowhere near as powerful so must therefore be terrible - but how many people own a 4k/120/VRR/HDR enabled TV to take advantage of that extra visual clarity the Series X offers?

With Christmas coming up too, how many 'kids' have 4k TV's in their bedrooms? How many parents are willing and able to drop Series X money on their Kids Christmas present (as well as games or Game Pass).

Many people, especially in less affluent areas, are not going to spend Series X money on a leisure device that they don't really benefit from on their older HD/60hz display. The only benefit is having a disc drive - the extra Visual Clarity is lost by downsampling the image to 1080p.

It certainly wouldn't surprise me if the Series S ends up outselling the Series X especially around Christmas when Parents are looking for gifts for their Kids. I wouldn't of bought my Son a Series X as he only had a HD TV in his room and lets not forget, for a LOT of people Resolution isn't important. They happily play 1080p (or lower) resolution games now and don't have higher resolution displays either to benefit anyway. The base XB1/PS4 was still selling more than PS4 Pro/XB1X despite those offering higher resolution, and in some cases, much higher frame rates too. Quite a few offer 60fps modes and often at higher resolution than base hardware but many people were OK with base hardware.

I think the Series S is a great, affordable next gen system that is perfect for many people and their current set-up. Its still 'decent' when people get round to upgrading their Displays to 4k - nothing wrong with 1080-1440p on a 4k display - albeit a bit softer than native, but still better than sub-1080p the base consoles are at and of course benefit from a number of other visual tweaks and of course better frame rates too. Also has all the same features as Series X too - VRR, VRS, Velocity Engine, dedicated Audio, dedicated decompression, SSDs, RT, Mesh Shading etc.

The 'reductions' in the Series S are purely Graphical and if you scale down the Visuals, then you don't need the GPU power or RAM - the file sizes of the textures for example are lower so don't need as much RAM and the smaller image size with embedded lower res textures doesn't need as much VRAM either. That being said, we don't know what the future holds, what games may demand so I can understand some apprehension. But if its a 1080-1440p console, it has more RAM, slightly faster too than the '4k' PS4 Pro. It has 8GB RAM just for gaming vs the Pro's 5.5 - that's nearly 50% more...

@SplooshDmg That’s most likely why they aren’t competing with Apple, yeah. Plus you don’t have redesign when you have a product people will buy. I think that’s the thing that people are missing here; the XSS is selling and by a lot. It’s a 50/50 split. And gee if you have two kids one wants a Switch one wants an Xbox; isn’t 600 a better price than 800?

You know it’s funny but people act like MS hasn’t done something like this before. Does no one remember the Elite/Arcade 360?

Snippet from a very old article:
“ Worse still, Arcade split the 360 market, making developers strip their games of features to be able to include content that people using the Arcade can still participate in. It takes an especially bad console to punish even the people who didn't buy it.”

Sound familiar?

During last gen, even in the last few years, the Xbox One S and the PS4 Slim outsold the One X and PS4 Pro respectively, proof there is a significant slice of the market that will opt for the lowest cost, lower spec, model if available and capable to run the same games.

My only wish is the Series S had a disk drive. Most my Xbox games are digital but some games simply get delisted and eventually only found via physical releases.

I'm glad there's a good option for people that want an Xbox this holiday. Being able to walk in a store and see them on shelves is wonderful.

But I wish retailers would just let us order an Xbox Series X and other hard to find consoles like an open pre-order. There used to be this thing called a "back order" for an item that wasn't in stock but would be eventually. You could order it and just wait.

Well the series s is always in stock & the ps5 & series X are never in stock so it's not a huge shock

Brazilian here. It's easy to see how successful the Series S has been in emerging markets like ours: you can either get one or a PS4 for roughly the same price ($500 or, in our local currency, R$2500 - a surreal price above 2 minimum wages combined...).
In short, for guys who know a bit of gaming and are not willing to pay more than R$5000- 6000 (the equivalent of an arm and a leg on the black market) to get a Series X or PS5, the Series S is an attractive (if still pricey) entry point for this new generation.
In fact, if not for the Series S (that I got a month ago), I wouldn't dare to dream of getting into the current gen. So, I'm "glad" for it existing.

Affordable and readily availabe will always win out with the majority of the market. I'm currently looking at Mario Odessy on my 1080P tv and it looks really good, so a lot of folks won't care about native 4K either.

@Dezzy70 Early we heard reports that the PS5 doc was having low yield. Sony denied it.

The thing with series S is it's basically made us reject chips for series x. There's no s production line for socs. Only x. All the chips that fail to perform to x spec become underclocked and used for s. I assume then that ms is having yield problems with the x soc and most of them are only good enough for s. Plus building the cloud racks for x consumed a lot of the x SOCs successfully made. (Basically they sold a lot of the xs to themselves.). So between low yield and cloud getting first pick, there's really no way they could have just increased x production without s. More likely they just would have thrown out a lot of failed chipsets.

Microsoft might as well rename it to Xbox Series $, because it's printing money 😆

@Dezzy70 MS strategy is simple: buy the console you want or is available, get gamepass, play and pay for dlc. MS will still get their money, no matter which console you buy (or won't if you play on xCloud). First, they didn't show the xbox one sales because they didn't wanted to get mocked by ps fanboys, now, they don't show sales because it no longer matters to them. They only show gamepass subscribers now because that's their real goal.

I'm very happy with my S

Heck, that does not surprise me, albeit peeps who say its only because of availability are very wrong. I'd totally get it, if i planned on getting PS5 as a main console instead of XSX. I can imagine lots of less wealthy peeps bought it for their kids too, because of the lower price. It's also much easier to have several consoles in your apt if you go with it (like having XSS in your bedroom and XSX in the living room). Also, with streaming working better and better, its also becoming a reasonable alternative.

My point is that there are various reasons that make this console attractive, all of which are valid, and I think Microsoft made a really smart move with it.

Makes sense.
Here in the UK, it was either Series S or the Switch bundle with Mario Kart over the Black Friday period.
Zero stock of Series X or either PS5 models.

I'd also imagine a few PS4/5 owners might be getting a Series S as a secondary console due to the low price and Game Pass appeal. And maybe even people that want a Series X but have grown impatient waiting for stock.

@Tharsman I would pay an extra £50 for black series S with a disc drive.

I walked into Walmart yesterday and was surprised to see two Xbox Series S consoles, so I ended up picking one up. I do want the XSX but figures this would do for now. I already have a PS5 but normally buy both consoles each generation.