PS4 Wins Black Friday Over Xbox One and Wii U According to Marketing Study

Although Cyber Monday sales are still incoming, the biggest shopping day (or days) of the year are over for many Americans. Thanksgiving and Black Friday sales are the official start to the holiday shopping season for many consumers and electronics and video games are among the most popular items. According to early numbers from a marketing study, Sony moved the most consoles of the big three during the weekend and took the crown away from Microsoft and the Xbox One.

InfoScout compiles sales receipts from a network of 300,000 users via three mobile apps and reports that Sony came in first place in terms of number of consoles sold on Black Friday. Last year Microsoft took the title and according to the numbers, it looks like Sony stole the win by biting into seven percent of Microsoft’s market.

The research compares the purchasing habits of demographic groups on an average day with the habits of those same people on Black Friday to come up with the rankings of the most popular items and companies. According to the Black Friday shopping behaviors, Sony consoles gained favor with both the millennial audience (18-35) and the middle-aged consumers (36-55) thanks to its bundles and holiday price cuts.

On an average shopping day, Microsoft consoles account for 39% of buys and Sony console’s 40%. The disparity grew a bit larger on Black Friday with Microsoft taking only 32% and Sony moving up to 48%. Nintendo held steady around 19%, with most of its sales coming from the millennial market. The Black Friday data research took more than 250,000 receipts into consideration.

Although Sony has shown strong sales with the PS4 since the console launched, it is slightly surprising that the company managed to outsell the Xbox One this holiday season, considering the lack of exciting exclusive games. Part of the PS4’s holiday success may be attributed to the strong marketing campaign that recommends players turn to Sony for Star Wars Battlefront, despite the fact that the game is available on multiple platforms. Now that a new wave of PS4 owners have been won over, hopefully Sony can start delivering more hard-hitting exclusives in late winter and fall, starting with Uncharted 4. Until then, gamers new to the PS4 can definitely spend some time catching up with Bloodborne and the Uncharted: Nathan Drake Collection.

Did you buy a console over the weekend? If so, which one? Let us know in the comments.