EA’s CFO Blake Jorgensen believes it’s only a matter of time before Microsoft’s Xbox One catches up and reaches parity with PlayStation 4 in the sales department.
Jorgensen made the statement during the UBS Global Technology Conference just yesterday, where he noted that while Sony clearly hit the ground running with the PlayStation 4, it won’t be long before the pendulum swings towards Microsoft following the recent $50 price drop.
“Clearly Sony has jumped out to a lead with a great console and I think a great pricing strategy, [but] Microsoft is catching up quickly. Pricing actions that are taking place, particularly during this Christmas season, driven by Microsoft, around reduction plus a lot of bundled software, I think will continue to pull the consumer into the new consoles.”
As things stand, PlayStation 4 sales have been simmering around 13.5 million, whereas Microsoft recently confirmed that Xbox One had shipped 10 million units to retailers.
Elsewhere in the talk, the chief executive also claimed that cumulative sales of both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 would be north of 25 million by the year’s end which, given that the current install base is in and around 20 million in North America, seems like a safe bet.
Over the last ten months, NPD figures have painted the picture, with PS4 outpacing Microsoft’s current-gen console for ten consecutive months. However, given the recent slew of Xbox One exclusives coupled with the aforementioned limited price promotion, Jorgensen’s claims are certainly worth taking notice of. But whatever the outcome between the two systems in the long run, it’s the end user that benefits the most from this pent-up competition.
What do you make of Jorgensen’s prediction? Do you foresee the Xbox One pulling level with PS4 in the near future? Let us know below.