PS4 Vs. Xbox One: Analyst Predicts Microsoft Outsold Sony In September

Microsoft's Xbox One may have outsold Sony's PS4 last month, due to some canny strategic moves on Microsoft's part. One factor in the company's September success is its offer of a free game alongside the purchase of an Xbox One at certain retailers from Sept. 7 to Sept. 13. Microsoft also launched a cheaper Xbox One without the Kinect on June 9. The console was priced at $400, down from its launch price of $500 and the same price as Sony’s PS4.

Since the launch of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 last November, Sony’s device has steadily outpaced its competitor, at a current 11.45 million PS4s sold to consumers against Microsoft’s last report of 5 million Xbox One consoles sold to retail stores in April.

We’re almost one year into the battle of the eighth-generation consoles, but as we approach the 2014 holiday season, it appears that the tide may be turning for Microsoft, which has lagged behind Sony for the past 11 months.

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter estimates that Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft outsold Japan-based Sony in the U.S. in September, with 325,000 Xbox Ones sold vs. 250,000 PlayStation 4s.

Pachter predicts the trend will continue for October as well.

“We expect Xbox One sales to exceed those of the PS4 for only the second month since launch,” he told investors.

In early August, Sony stated during the video game fair Gamescom in Germany that more than 10 million PlayStation 4 devices had sold globally since its Nov. 15, 2013, launch.

When both devices launched last November, Microsoft and Sony were fairly open about the early success of their respective consoles. Both moved 1 million devices from shelves within 24 hours of launch, and both were selling better than their brand's previous-generation console. As time went on, Sony continued to proudly announce its sales data, while Microsoft remained silent on its figures.

This is just a prediction, and we’ll know more when industry tracker NPD Group releases its sales data for September this Thursday. Still, if Pachter is correct, this could mean a shift in the console market for Microsoft. With the holidays nearing, the Xbox One could revive itself after a less than stellar year on the market.