For the second month in a row, Microsoft's Xbox One was the top-selling console in the United States. Given the ridiculously crazy bundles Microsoft offered throughout the holiday season, this isn't exactly the biggest shocker.
“Bundles were a major driver of hardware sales this December compared to last with 71 percent of hardware unit sales stemming from Bundles including software, which compares to 32 percent of hardware sales last December," NPD Group's Liam Callahan pointed out. In November and December, Microsoft not only offered a temporary $50 price cut, bringing the cost of the Xbox One down to $349, but also included blockbuster games like Assassin's Creed Unity, Sunset Overdrive, or Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare in certain bundles.
Regardless of how they got to the top, it's still quite a feat for the Xbox One which was also November's best-selling console after being outsold by the PS4 for 10 straight months in 2014.
While platform-specific sales numbers weren't revealed, the NPD Group did announce that total hardware sales for December 2014 hit $1.31 billion, down 4 percent from last year's $1.37 billion.
“While hardware sales decreased by 4 percent in December 2014 versus the year prior, eighth generation sales improved by 13 percent," Callahan said. "This is remarkable considering the comparison to the best launch in U.S. history of any console with the PS4 and second best launch with the Xbox One.”
According to more stats from the NPD Group, cumulative sales of Xbox One and PS4 exceed the Xbox 360 and PS3 cumulative 14 month total by a whopping 65 percent.
Staying specific to Xbox, Microsoft noted that the Xbox One's weekly average sales have outpaced Xbox 360 by 50 percent at the same point in its lifecycle. So while PlayStation 4 might be the most popular system with 18.5 million systems sold worldwide, the Xbox One is doing just fine comparatively.
