Xbox One Tops Black Friday Sales

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Even though more polled users may prefer Sony’s PlayStation 4, it appears Microsoft’s Xbox One has become the sales leader for this past weekend’s Black Friday event, at least as far as Target and Walmart are concerned.

A report from InfoScout indicates that the newly released next-gen console has had no problem leading the sales charts, with a whopping 31 percent share of the game market over the weekend. Even with its high price of $499, it’s had no trouble selling out in stores that carry it.

In second place, Microsoft also dominated with its Xbox 360, with a close 30 percent share. A lot of stores sold the console at a discount price, such as Wal-Mart with its 4 GB $99 bundle and Best Buy with its four-game 250 GB bundle for $189.

Sony picked up the slack in third and fourth place, with the PlayStation 3 sitting at 15 percent market share and the PlayStation 4 close behind with a similar percentage.

Meanwhile, Nintendo lagged behind, with the Wii U in fifth place with a 6 percent share, and the Wii with a meager 1 percent.

In terms of game sales, Activision’s Call of Duty: Ghosts easily made its way to the number one slot, with Disney’s figure-oriented adventure game Disney Infinity in second place. Rounding out the list were Activision’s Skylanders: Swap Force, Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto V and EA Sports’ football sim Madden NFL 25.

Source: Venturebeat {link no longer active}

 

Black Friday Online Spending Rises

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A lot of people invaded stores on Thursday night for Black Friday deals, but that didn’t stop others from doing their shopping online. In fact, the audience is bigger than ever before.

IBM’s Benchmark reporting has revealed that the record-breaking numbers topped last year’s with ease, researching over 800 online retailers and millions of transactions.

Mobile traffic grew to 39.7 percent of all online traffic, which is a 34 percent pick-up from 2012’s numbers. The general order value was $135.27, which is about a 2.2 percent year-after-year increase.

Mobile sales also played a huge part in the online numbers, with 21.8 percent of total online sales in all, a 43 percent rise from the previous year.

Smartphones led the charge in online traffic, with 24.9 percent accounted for, while tablets came in close behind at 14.2 percent. Those who used iPads and Galaxy Tabs as their shopping choice spent about $135.72 per order, compared to smartphone users spending $115.63.

iOS users seemed to spend a little more than Android users as well. Those who prefer iPhone and iPad ended up spending $127.92 per order, while Android shoppers went around $105.20 for their purchases. iOS traffic sat at 28.2 percent of online traffic, while Android was in a slightly distant second with 11.4 percent.

It looks like some people definitely knew how to avoid stores this year.

Source: TechCrunch

PS4 Leads In Purchase Intent

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With the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One now available at retailers, Sony and Microsoft, respectively, are battling it out for next-generation dominance. However, according to a new poll by Nielsen, it appears there may only be one true winner this holiday season.

When polling American consumers, Nielsen reported that 30 percent of activate gamers intended to purchase a PlayStation 4 console, while only 22 percent showed interest in the Xbox One.

In addition, Parks Associates held a similar poll, with 38 percent of gamers wanting to grab a PS4, and 27 percent leaning towards Xbox One.

Sony does have an edge in the next-gen wars, with its PlayStation 4 system selling for $399 compared to the Xbox One’s $499 price tag. We’ll see how the dust settles over the next four weeks.

Source: BGR

iOS Dominates Android In Shopping

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As crazy as Black Friday is, it’s a huge sales opportunity for retailers, and they want sales to happen in stores, online and increasingly on mobile devices. Both Android and Apple have their fair share of sales, but, according to IBM, there’s only one clear-cut winner.

While Android’s popularity is picking up in the market, the company states that Apple has had no problem dominating its competitor during Thanksgiving and Black Friday this week. IBM stated that by tracking “millions of transactions and terabytes of data from approximately 800 U.S. retail websites” over the course of the two days, it’s found that users are buying more using iOS devices.

In the analysis, IBM states that iOS users spent about $127.92 per order, compared to Android buyers spending $105.20. iOS traffic also reached about 28.2 percent of all online traffic, while Android only reached 11.4 percent. Meanwhile, in terms of sales, iOS rules with 18.1 percent, as Android only grabs around 3.5 percent.

In overall online sales, according to Adobe, iOS devices picked up $543 million in online sales, while Android devices were way behind with $148 million. Of the sales on iOS,  the iPad had a whopping 77 percent share of those sales. Android has some work to do to catch up.

Source: Business Insider

Nvidia: PC Superior To Next-Gen Consoles

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While gamers show general interest in next-gen hardware from Sony and Microsoft this holiday season, Nvidia’s Matt Wright believes that PC is “superior” to both machines, especially with its forthcoming line-up of smaller, living room-friendly units.

Speaking with MCV, Matt Wright from Nvidia stated, “We are proposing small form-factor PCs to be a viable alternative to the next-gen consoles. Enthusiast players want the ultimate games system and that is the PC.”

“The PC platform is far superior to any console when it comes to gaming, plus you get all the extra functionality that a computer brings,” he continued. “Steam now has more users than Xbox Live…there’s a huge community who love playing their games on PC.” Games like Minecraft and World of Tanks have certainly snared a fair share of PC users over the last few years, with the numbers continuously growing.

Nvidia should reveal its latest line-up of hardware next month at the CES show in Las Vegas, Nevada, and that may include some reference designs for small form-factor PCs. Last year at CES Nvidia surprised everybody by introducing the Shield handheld console — could they have another surprise in store for CES 2014

Source: MCV