Microsoft Announces Q3 Financial Results: 1.2 Million Xbox One Consoles Shipped; Xbox Revenue up 45%

It's quarterly financial results day at Microsoft today, and Redmond's corporation sent in a press release right in time for its earnings report right in time for the closure of the markets.

[Axios2]

$20,000,000,000 in revenue

Well done

The "Devices and Consumer hardware" devision account for almost $2 Billion in revenue for this quarter.

"Xbox platform revenue UP 45%"

[KendrickLamar]

20B in revenue not from Xbox, from the company as a whole.

[georgeenoob]

Xbox is at its most successful state now than it has ever been. Congrats to MS.

@kingthrash

Sorry, forgot this was N4G. M$ is d00med!!

[NewMonday]

"On the other hand gross margin decreased by 34%"

"xbox gross margin =0"

[Kingthrash360]

lol george.
c'mon man really?
lol too much...i should +bub you for "funny"

[Thehyph]

The next quarterly will be better. (Office on iOS)

It's important to note the difference between revenue and profit.
Read the quote from NewMonday and then look up gross margin.

Xbox does not truly appear solid to investors on this sheet, BUT I will give Xbox the benefit of the doubt here and say that the next few quarters Microsoft will spend recouping R&D costs for Xbox One.

[mikeslemonade]

Yea of course you revenue goes up when you just released a system as compared to just selling 360s.

That's all Microsoft can say. The system is faltering and they're using zombie stats to try to spin the good in the numbers.

[FriedGoat]

bubbled george for funny. good idea kingthrash

[Pogmathoin]

For 1% of that profit, I could care less about the Great Sony/MS wars...... Just drop 1% my way..... Will not be missed....

Edit: NewMonday, you some kind of Killjoy or what? You would kill an orgasm with Kate Upton..... Try be cheerful!

[TomShoe]

So about 3.8-4.2 XBOs sold compared to 7M+ PS4s.

The Xbox might be able to win back the US, but it's not looking good. Losing all of that XBL free money won't help either.

[UltimateMaster]

1.2 million shipped in the 3rd quarter?
I tough it was more, around 2-3 million.

[tbone567]

Unbelievable. Net profit was around 15 billion? Holy cow.

[RoboticusRex]

Sony is worth more than 20 billion
Sorry to burst your xbubble @truefan

[scott182]

lol @ shipped numbers, MS is too funny. Nintendo and Sony should jump on the shipped numbers train too.

[JoySticksFTW]

So X1's shipped for the whole quarter (1.2 mil) what PS4 sold through to actually customers in one month (1 mil).

Dang, MS... Say goodbye to that marketshare you gained last gen at this rate.

[kneon]

@scott182

It would make little difference to Sony's numbers
at this point as shipped and sold are nearly the same.

[MysticStrummer]

XB1 is selling better than XB, which did ok but released late in the game against the juggernaut PS2 so it never really had a chance, and 360, which was in short supply at the beginning of it's lifespan.

1.2 million consoles (XB1 and 360) shipped isn't great when the competition is actually selling so many more of just it's new console on a consistent basis.

I wonder how much of the increase in XB revenue is due to XBL being required now...

[GameNameFame]

So 1.2 million sold over 3 months.

That is nothing.

PS4 is selling over a million per month. lol

[DragonKnight]

@truefan1: This isn't a Sony article, is there any reason you decided to bring them up?

I hope you realize that $20 billion is more than you're worth, guess you'll be going bankrupt soon and won't be able to post your troll comments on here anymore right?

[Kribwalker]

20 billion in net profit in the last 9 months is equal to Sony's losses the last 5 years. I really think sony needs to rethink their buisness plans as something's just not working for them. Hate all you want, but Microsoft knows how to make money , they get almost 2 billion a year on android royalties alone. They may not be selling as many consoles, but as a company they'll be around a lot longer then Sorny at this rate

[uptownsoul]

@truefan1 "It looks like XBOX is under a secure umbrella, no leaks." The Xbox division during it's entire history has been a loss for Microsoft. In other words, Xbox IS the leak.

[morganfell]

Good analysis on the X1 numbers at Gaf: http://www.neogaf.com/forum...

PS4 has almost doubled the X1 on sold to consumers.

[jebabcock]

Just to put things into perspective.

For the quarter MS reported a $20billion in revenue overall... $1.97 billion included all hardware devices sold.
Of that $1.97billion approximately $600million came direct from console sales of X1(1.2mil * 500). another $200 million came from the 360(.8mil * 250).

The surface tablets alone accounted for $494 million which roughly equates to 1.2 million sales(494mil / ~$400).

The rest probably came from other peripherals and mobile devices that ms sells.

The total revenue for all Devices & Consumer Other category was 1.95 billion which included office 365, ad revenues generated from sources like bing as well as xbl transactional revenues among other things. I would guess at least half of that comes from bing and potentially alot more as it now has an 18% market share in the US. I'd guess that 500-600 million might be reasonable for xbl transactions. Might be generous though too. I'm shooting in the dark here.

Revenue is meaningless though. The actual net income overall for MS was $5.6 billion. This is what they gained after subtracting all costs. For all of devices and hardware the gross margin was $256million. Please stop and let that sink in for a moment. The actual net income would be less than that as the gross margin does not factor in all costs... (they neglected to report any net incomes at this level in the article as MS probably didnt report them either).

Last year the gross margin for the same quarter was 393 million. Its nearly half as profitable as it was at this time last year. That is what georgeenoob means by being at its most successful state.

The gross margin (which again doesn't include all costs) for Devices and Consumer other(bing, office 365, xbl) was only 540 million. Once again the net income is less than that. and the xbl generated income is less than that still probably by at least half. That is for the massive install base of the 360 along with the x1.

To say it is doomed isn't true, but these aren't exactly good numbers or something to be exactly proud of. The margins and volumes even on the software side do not look too stellar. I understand why they are hiding things.

@truefan Generating 20billion is not the same thing as being worth 20billion. A company could theoretically generate 100 billion in revenue but if the margins are terrible and they have no assets, the company may only be worth a 100 million or less on paper. Typically its assets and current and projected profit margins that determine worth. Revenues have little to do with it...

[JohnnyBadfinger]

Lol at people who think sold to consumers and sold 2 retailers are a different thing entirely. They are only insignificantly different at best.

Why would a retailer order more consoles if they arent being sold? Bottom line is no matter where you go now you can find PS4s and X1s sitting on the shelf. Get this stupid idea out of your head that your PS4 is still in red hot demand. Month after month their sale figures prove its decline just as much as the X1.

PS4s price just helped it grab its early adopters when most of the console gamer community are still content with their last gen consoles. X1s price tag is its reason for its slow start, just as it was for the PS3. Fact.

feel free to respond to my reply but i wont be reading it so your views opinions and insults wont be received by me.

[DragonKnight]

@johnnybadfinger: They are different things. Sold to retailers represents available stock and can remain as available stock indefinitely. Sold to consumer represents stock that has been sold through and requires replacing, meaning a necessity to produce more product to sell to retailers.

Microsoft can sell 5 million to retailers, but the retailers could only sell, say, 3 million. This means there are 2 million units out in the wild not being bought which forces either Microsoft, or the retailer, to take measures to make the console an enticing purchase. This may result in bundles, or price cuts where either Microsoft or the retailer take a hit in their own profits just to get the product off their shelf.

Sony selling 7 million to consumers means that everyone is making money. Sony, and their retail partners, don't have to resort to bundles or price cuts in order to get the product off the shelf and so they are making more and more money all the time.

Needless to say, Microsoft wouldn't want to be in the position of having no reason to replenish retailer stock.

[chuckyj1]

If you actually read his comment that's exactly what he states... He never states the$20B in revenue is from the Xbox Division... Be he does correctly state that almost 2 Billion of that is from the Devices and Consumer hardware (Xbox is part of that division)

Now let's sit tight and see if Sony can pull a profit. It's been a while since they've been in the black ink as a company as a whole.

[jebabcock]

@chuckyj1

Revenue isn't profit... MS likely took a significant loss on the X1 according to the numbers we see here..

According to the article, the revenue is 2 billion for hardware devices. but gross margin was only 256 million.

the profits for all hardware devices would be a chunk less than the gross margin(which subtracts only part of the costs). The x1 is one part of quite a long list of devices and peripherals that MS includes in this amount.

Also note that the Hardware devices division had a drop of 34% in its gross margin which is much more closely aligned with profit and makes the 45% increase in revenue kind of a bad thing. It is a strong indicator that the X1 is in the red and eating into profits. As much as people want to pretend the reported numbers are good it is never a good sign when you are charging people ALOT more money but making less of it yourself. We call that a lose-lose situation.

So yes MS is likely taking a loss for the actual console sales. They may be recouping it from transactions in XBL. No way of knowing really just how much profit the XB1 is generating there though. I'm sure the 360 generates a decent amount due to the install base, but i would wager the x1 is still fairly small due to only having a fraction of the install base of the 360.

To be honest i would be shocked if Sony isn't taking a loss on consoles as well at the present. Once again online transactions will enable profitability for sony just like MS.

[UltraNova]

@dragon

And to add to your breakdown, when your product barely sells (compared to the competition) you have to keep retailers happy in order for them to accept your product that will sit in shelves and storage for god knows how long.

One common practice is to is give free merchandise to that retailer or increase their profit margin by decreasing yours per product sold to them, not by much but just enough. Its a necessary hit wholesalers have to take from time to time. (This goes further into why their net profit might be even lower than you guys estimate)

I can definitely see MS trying this especially when they need to present yearly and quarterly reports to share holders.

[DiRtY]

Why do I have to correct N4G users every 3 months?

first: Every company reports shipped numbers in their financial reports. EVERY COMPANY. Apple, Sony, Microsoft, Samsung, Nintendo. E.V.E.R.Y.

Got this now?

second: This puts Xbox One at 5.1 million consoles sold to retailers (See what I did here?) at the end of March.

Third: Sonys market cap is 18.96 billion USD now. If you want to buy 100% of Sonys shares, you have to pay this amount. So if MS invested their operating income for the last 9 months, they could buy 100% of Sony. (In theory, share prices will go up if someone wants to buy that much, but you get the idea).

Sony will report their financial results soon and after 5.66 billion USD net income is bad now, breaking even after years of losses becomes 'doing great'.

[rainslacker]

@george

The last few years of the 360 were much more profitable for the Xbox division. X1 is selling more than the 360 did in the same time frame but the 360 monthly sales the past few years still dwarf the current X1 sales overall. 360 was selling at a pretty decent profit margin, so while MS isn't doing poorly based on the 360, your assumption is just wrong.

[AndrewLB]

Well according to their quarterly report, M$ has sold a total of 5 million Xbones. That's 800k more than what Vgchartz claims. And since this is a quarterly report where it's highly illegal to lie or even play loose with the facts, looks like VGchartz has been under-estimating Xbone sales by almost 20%. http://www.forbes.com/sites...

Also... to all the Sony fanboys out there. Can someone please show me where in Sony's announcement of 7 million PS4's sold does it even mention "to consumers"??

http://blog.us.playstation....

If Sony truly had sold that many to actual people and not stores, you'd think their announcement would have specified this right? Notice how they DID make it clear about the game sales to consumers though. hmm..

[Ritsujun]

It's okay, MS. Don't ever give up!!! lol

[TheRealHeisenberg]

Exactly so this should be considered great news for all the Sony employees and Sony Fanboys that own MS stock and bad news for anybody that wants to see MS fail. Seems to me that MS and Xbox will continue to be around for a while which should be considered great news for gamers that are reaping the benefits of the competition for our money. Game on whatever you choose but chill on the hate. I mean damn...there is a lot of hate going on in here for MS and it is just pathetic. N4G would be such a better place if fanboys just stayed in news for their consoles of choice.

[DragonKnight]

@AndrewLB: Don't you think that if Sony knows how many games they sold to consumers (which is a result of turning the PS4 on, connecting to PSN, and playing the game) that they know how many PS4s they sold to consumers via the same method? Face facts, they sold 7 million to consumers.

[morganfell]

Yes every console manufacturer reports shippeed numbers BUT... there is an ocean of difference between shipped in and shipped through which are the two methods of reporting. You can bury your head in the sand and pretend those numbers do not matter or you can deal with the facts.

[illtownNJONE]

Sony is worth 16 billion as a whole

[frostypants]

@JohnnyBadfinger, channel stuffing is a thing. Companies do it.

[morganfell]

http://www.gamasutra.com/vi...

"We do expect to work through some inventory in Q4," said Hood, referring in this case to the period between April 1 - June 30, 2014. She also referred to "channel inventory drawdown for Xbox consoles," implying that manufacturing of Xbox consoles will slow or stop, to allow retailers time to work through existing inventory.

[PONTIAC08G8GT]

I love how many haters are on this website. Why does it bother you if they sold 8 million X1's in a month or 8? Like does this really matter to you? It's so funny reading all these posts and how everyone is a financial analyst or gaming expert. It's pathetic how many sad people are on here. Getting panties in a bunch over numbers Microsoft released, who honestly cares. If you bought a PS4, knock yourself out. You bought an X1, good for you. If you bought a Wii U, well I just feel bad for you lol.

[christocolus]

I wish I had some of that in my bank account right now. That's a alot of cash and Bill just keeps getting richer every day and yet he lives such a simple life style.

Well I hope this spurs the new management to continue investing more into the xbox division. Nadella im talking to you. Sign off another $1b for games.

[NewMonday]

you will get $0 in your bank account because if look up the actual profits after revenue the number is "0"

[DiRtY]

@NewMonday

Only on N4G false information get agree votes.

The profit for the Devices and Consumer Hardware division (Xbox 360, Xbox One and Surface) is 260 million USD and this does not include first party games!

MS as a whole reported a 14.5 billion USD profit for 3 months.

Where did you get that nonsense from? The last quarter the the devices and consumer hardware (former EDD) division reported a loss was July 2012. The EDD post an annual profit since 2008.

This is not Sony we are talking about.

[Utalkin2me]

They shipped a paltry 1.2 million Xbox 1 units in Q3 and people think they got 20,000,000,000 in revenue, lol. The Xbox division is still in the red and the only reason MS makes a profit is due to having a monopoly in desktop OS....SMH

[Dewitt]

Wow you are so clueless it isn't funny. Actually, read the article before you post.

[fr0sty]

Actually, he isn't clueless about Xbox being in the red. The original Xbox lost 4 billion dollars. The 360 went on to lose a billion more with RROD. So far Xbox as a brand has never turned a dime of profit, it hasn't even repaid its investment to the company. This is why so many are calling for it to be sold off.

That said, Sony erased all of their PS1 and PS2 profits with PS3, so they haven't been profitable with gaming either... though they haven't lost as much as MS has when you factor everything together. PS4 is also selling like hotcakes, so that picture only continues to improve.

[fonger08]

@Utalkin2Me yes technically Xbox is in the red but so is Sony in that timeframe... so not really sure where you're going with that.

@Fr0sty Xbox turned a profit for 4 years straight (2008-2011). Though they've lost 3 billion (2003-2013), and Sony has lost 5 billion over that same time frame. Gaming is an expensive venture...

http://www.neowin.net/news/...

[k3rn3ll]

Actually the majority of their money is made off enterprise now a days.

[Nekroo91]

TrueFan let me explain how it works...

It doesent matter for the xbox if the company makes 20 billion in profit (twice as much Sony value) because the xbox division is non profitable. And hey stock owners want to make MORE money, not lose it to make kids like you happy.

Theres a reason why the CEO wants to sell it ...to make the board happy.Its a business when is non profitable its time to cut..just like what sony is doing with pc division

[miDnIghtEr20C_SfF]

Wow.. Looks like Xbox is really in trouble.. Insert rolling eyes gif here. Up way big time than before.

All the die hard Sony fans will not want to believe the factual numbers.

Here we go!

[LambOfLucifer79]

You know if you're pro xbox on this site you'll be downvoted. That's hysterical to me. Honestly, it looks like xbox is doing really well. Let's see how many disagrees I get. LMAO

[randomass171]

The best way to look at it is Xbox One may not be outperforming PS4 but it's still doing respectable numbers. No reason to downvote anyone for being happy about that. The Xbox One could be doing much worse than this and people don't seem to realize that.

[Jazz4108]

Sonys projected report for the quarter is more loses and its around 5 billion this year. Sony is in trouble as a company and ms is doing great as a company. Go ahead and break up little pieces of the company to try to make ms look bad when its the bottom line that matters and thats Ms is makeing a profit consistantly while sony has lossed over 3 times what the company used to be worth maybe more. Like I said its the bottom line that counts and alot of companys keep divisions around that dont make huge profit because it can be used in other venues. Im not trying to rag on sony so dont rag on ms when all they did was generate more billions in a quarter.

[Thunderhawkxbox]

Woow look at Sony fan boys giving u dislike guess wat Sony fan boys Microsoft doesn't have to se their building or laptop or tv division at least try to enjoy your last console which is indie station 4 before Sony goes completely bankrupt

[XxExacutionerxX]

Xbox One!!!! Greatest system on the planet!!

[Lowsnamebrand]

Good job passing an opinion off as fact, even though the console is selling less and has bottlenecks the competing console doesn't have...

[TripC50]

Read xxEx and lows comments above.

Sums up what happens all day everyday on N4G.

[medman]

Yet more meaningless bs stats from the Microsoft camp who prefer deflection and distraction to actually telling gamers how many consoles have actually been sold to consumers. Shameful. F Microsoft.

[BG11579]

They will be able of telling you how many bullets were fired in certain games. How many hours per day people live the bone on. How the revenue from ads increased.
But consoles sold to costumers? That's pure science fiction man. Let's keep it at consoles sent to retailers. Those are good numbers.

[sak500]

Much better with games and updates than the always mum sony who have no clue how to update their new console since they haven't updated a single thing since it was launched. Turning their rabid fanboys into mental patients who can only vent their frustration by trying to troll MS articles.

They are called Sonmbies. Sony's zombies.

[Alsybub]

@medman

These are the stats given to shareholders. They cannot lie on these. If they do then they will be breaking the law. If you have insider information I suggest you report it to the relevant authorities.

Also, it is a requirement that the numbers are based on shipped. If you have an issue with this you should take it up with the international stock exchanges.

[OCEANGROWNKUSH]

Keyword; SHIPPED

[Muzikguy]

I couldn't for one second believe that was all "Xbox". That's a ton of money. They would need to sell 40 million XboxOnes to do that O_O (well, games too but still)

[Alsybub]

It's because that figure is for the whole company.

[imt558]

Well, MS shipped 1.2 mil. Xbone's from Jan.-Mar. to retailers, Sony SOLD 2.7+ mil. PS4's to customers from Jan.-Mar. ( 4.2+ sold in 2013. )

So, sell ratio is greater than 2:1 in PS4 favor from Jan.-Mar.

[greenlantern2814]

Great news for any one who owns stock in the company. But why can't they say what the actual sales of the xb1 is already?

[Lawboy2]

Andbeforetheseareshippedconsol es

To shareholders this is $ in their pockets....whether sold to consumers or sold to retailers...the shareholders make money...and so does microsoft

Also as stated in the comments in the article

U have to REMEBER the shareholders are not looking at the ps4 sales figures...this is the quarterly report it has to be reported so that the shareholders can see what state the company is in...and from the looks of things the xbox division is doing good

Also u must REMEBER that retailers wouldn't continue buying consoles if they weren't selling...that's why only 1 million consoles were shipped in the quarter...that's a good way of seeing how the console is selling...retailers order more stock when they've sold their previous stock

@ 2pac

This is the quarterly report...also how does sales figure help gamers other than to boost gamers egos....in actuality its not about the amount of consoles sold...it's about the revenue and profit the consoles brings in...more revenue and profit more games can go into development and things like better online also come into play

[2pacalypsenow]

Yes because Shareholders are gamers and its about the shareholder not the gamer

[nypifisel]

Sillyness. Shareholders say "Why aren't Xbox selling as well as PS4?"

There are nearly 1 million Xbox Ones sitting on shelves.

[T2]

well regardless of whether or not these are shipped or sold I wonder if ms is happy with xbox sales...

1. xb1 is selling better than 360!
2. PS4 is likely to have sold 2X more than xb1 at this point.

Those are strange figures that I think few expected... so the question remains, is MS happy? we may never know.
One thing is certain though, if there are a boatload of xb1 on shelves, the coming months may not be very good.

[k3rn3ll]

And what makes you think that there are 1.5 million Xboxes sitting on the shelves? That would mean they didn't sell any xboxes in Feb and march. Now being in 16 countries that means their is an average of close to 100000 sitting on shelves in each country. Highly unlikely

[T2]

It may not be exactly 2x but it's 7.5 million vs 4.3 million so you get my meaning. Double in a short time basically

[DefenderOfDoom2]

Who cares what the shareholders make ! I want to know how many people here own MICROSOFT shares! I guess i have a sour taste in my mouth due to the fact, i have been living check to check since the economy tanked in 2007! . The rich get richer and the poor suffer!

[Chevalier]

@Lawboy

Actually Xbone isn't selling well. My store since March has sold well over 100 PS4's and only 35 or so Xbone. That was during their biggest release Titanfall. We have a dozen sitting in my back room and unsold. The systems we sell do not generate any money for us or Sony it's the peripherals and all the games where we both make money. The Xbone sitting is a loss because the space we pay rent on.

MS doesn't benefit at all from us havint units sitting unsold. They need those unitsto be in a customers hands to generate sales continuously.

For example when my customer buys the system with game, PS plus annual, controller etc. Sony and us both profit. These customers also come back for new games and trade in old ones profitting us both again. MS however haven't made much if anything by selling us the system. As long as they sit the less our company orders and the less they generate in profit.

[Lawboy2]

If missing the point...once the console is ordered ur company pays Microsoft....and yes I understand they don't make money while the system sits in the back because games and peripherals aren't sold....but the only reason ur company orders so many consoles is because they believe they can sell it....I promise you...if they didn't they wouldn't order it or they would ship it to another retailer in the company that is selling the system better...that's how business works....

[Chevalier]

@Lawboy

Yeah you might think that, but, we don't get many Xbones anywhere near a regular rate. Our company is sitting on stock and there is no need to order any more stock or we order much less overall. We're receiving stock replenishment from our remaining company stock not necessarily new stock.

Also your missing the point which is that the hardware themselves are NOT profitable. Yes we paid MS for those units, but, they either break even or take a loss. Their manufacturing cost is just under what they sell them to us for and the extra money they make goes into paying the shipping to get us the units once you get that cost in they made no money or took a loss. Sitting in our backroom is a cost too because we pay rent and every month they go unsold is a slight loss.

So the point is our company will stop buying stock till we sell through our stock. In fact our company may not be sitting on many units because our company thinks we'll sell them so much as MS may have offered deals to take so many units offering them for cheaper then usual or absorbing the cost by allowing us to send them back unsold units.

Also they stuff the channels purposely during March in particular by offering retailers deals to stock up not because it will sell, but, to put up higher numbers to report to shareholders and make you think they're doing well by having an inflated number and say to naive people that there is 5 million units in retailers hands. They do this during March because it is fiscal year end for most major corporations and they need their annual reports to stockholders to be deceptively good sounding. So in reality if you look through all the BS they are not doing well.

[Lawboy2]

Also nice article abriael very detailed...I really do like dual shockers website starting to be one of my favorites

@ death

Yeah I like n4g but dual shockers report on everything and they are pretty good at getting to the news first which is why I like them

[DeathOfTheFanBoy]

Better than N4G, that's for sure.

[TheRedButterfly]

Well that's not really saying much... My infant cousin does less whining than N4G.

[Utalkin2me]

@TheRedButterfly

Says the guy whining about N4G, roflmao

[TheTowelBoy]

Agree, I don't hate the site completely but the community is very, very toxic. And one sided.

[Zhipp]

@Utalkin2me
He's not whining. He's just making a statement of fact.

[randomass171]

N4G is not a bad site, but unfortunately the community can be pretty unreasonable and antagonistic. I'm a Sony fan, but I like to think I'm more open minded about other game companies and what they have to offer. I want all three to do well. Microsoft's competition and Nintendo's competition HELP Sony improve themselves. I wish more people recognized that.

[christocolus]

Yeah Abriael thanks for this post...you doing good.

Went through Nadella and Hoods comments once more. As good as this was i'm certain theyll improve on it next quarter.

"CEO Satya Nadella accompanied the release with a statement:
This quarter’s results demonstrate the strength of our business, as well as the opportunities we see in a mobile-first, cloud-first world. We are making good progress in our consumer services like Bing and Office 365 Home, and our commercial customers continue to embrace our cloud solutions. Both position us well for long-term growth.We are focused on executing rapidly and delivering bold, innovative products that people love to use.

CFO Amy hood also commented:
We delivered solid, broad-based financial results driven by strong execution and continued cost discipline. We are focusing our resources to drive growth and long-term shareholder value."

I wish the new management all the best and i hope they continue doing really well.

[NYC_Gamer]

I hope MS uses some of that profit to build up the Xbox brand in terms of software

[AceBlazer13]

Can't speak for profits but the revenue already went into price cuts and a ton of free games bundled in . Good guy microsoft.

[Abriael]

Just as a clarification, the price cuts weren't sponsored by Microsoft. That's retailers taking a loss in order to sell more consoles, and get a higher profit on accessories and games as a result.

When Microsoft or Sony sponsor a price cut, it happens across the board, not just at certain retailers.

[GameSpawn]

Abriael,

Sometimes you can get deals with distributors by ordering certain amounts. Usually stores chalk this up to a better profit margin and don't pass along the savings to the end customer, but sometimes when the product isn't moving you eat your "bonus" profit to get the product out the door.

So, you are 80% right. A price cut from Sony or Microsoft would be across the board (though could still be limited to a region). However stores aren't always eating as much of a loss as you think they are, because you don't know if they got extra "incentives" (read discounts) with their last order.

[True_Samurai]

They already are with 1 Billion spent on exclusives whether it's 1st-3rd party exclusives or just exclusive content. Also by opening new first party studios such as Leap Experience Pioneers

BTW CAN'T WAIT FOR SUNSET OVERDRIVE REVEAL IN EDGE MAGAZINE ON MAY 8TH

[jackanderson1985]

The 1bil is first/second party cuz I'm pretty sure they said it was invested within Microsoft studios so that would exclude the third parties from that amount

[corvusmd]

Nice, well done MS. Growth is always a great thing, and it's good to see that the XB1 is doing very well financially as well. The more profitable it is for them, the more they will be willing to invest in it.

Abriael makes a good point above, it wasn't MS making official price cuts as of yet, that was retailers competing with each other for business. And if it was due to an inability to move consoles...they would not have shipped-in 1.2 mil more consoles.

[DoubleM70]

Yes any growth is positive. As long as your not in the red your doing fine. You got disagrees....LOL

[T2]

uhh nooo , it was just as likely retailers competing to OFFLOAD excess stock as it was competing, you don't slash prices to compete with a sold out product, you slash price to try and ditch your product so that your competitor is left holding the bag. nice try though. and their sales are just fine , but "shipping in" 1.2 mil console isn't saying squat.

[Chevalier]

No company likes dropping prices unless they have large stocks and are desperate to clear space. The longer they sit they actually lose money because of the rented space and taking up space of product that actually sells. A sale at full price without a peripheral, year of live , points or game is a loss. Selling a discounted system is a bigger loss leader in hopes of generating profit. 1.2 million shipped across a quarter when your competition actually sold through 3 million units isn't good.

In the last 7 weeks my store has sold well over 100 PS4's and our company orders as much as we can because we sell every single unit where's since Titanfall bundles we've only sold out we have only sold 3 regular units. That's already 3 x the sales of Xbone.

If that's your idea of great sales I don't know what to say. The stock I receive this week for PS4 represent a guaranteed sale and I can guarantee you that shipment is more than the Xbone we'll sell all month. Plus there aren't any other major titles coming out till fall? This is why retailers will be continue to bundle free games and MS will also start making bundles to try to boost sales. Generally bundles come much later in a systems lifetime when sales start dropping.

[DJ]

What's with the "Shipped to Retailers" instead of "Sold to Consumers"? There's like a million Xbox One consoles on shelves right now.

[Abriael]

It's company policy. 99% of companies prefers to give shipped values because there's no way to know for sure the sold through values. You have to rely on estimates based on a statistical pool of retailers, which is never 100% accurate.

Also, this is financial results. For what Microsoft is concerned, when a console is shipped to retailers it's sold, period. The money is in the bag. So that's all that matters for financial results.

Whether that console actually finds a customer or not is a problem for the retailers themselves.

[bleedsoe9mm]

i'm sure sony knows from talking to retailers and by orders how quickly units are selling but they have noway of having actually numbers on how many units walmart (for example) is selling , nor do they care , same goes for MS , as long as the order stays the same or increases they are happy .

[KinjoTakemura]

They know how many units have been sold based on ESN (electronic serial numbers). Retailers scan the items sold so they can be counted as sold and not counted a part of store inventory. In this day and age it's ridiculous to think that a business such as Microsoft has no idea how many of their systems are being sold to consumers.

[rainslacker]

Nowadays manufacturers know how many are sold within i'd wager a less than 1% margin of error. There are so many avenues to get those numbers and I'm sure MS(and all of them) have a pretty accurate estimate.

One way to see this in action is that games are always reported in number sold. Games aren't tracked at the retail level, and not every game is played when it's purchased, but publishers know how many copies they've sold at retail.

Keep in mind that MS needs to know how many are actually sold to be able to determine demand so they can predict how much they are going to have to make to keep up on re-orders. It's a pretty exacting consumer science nowadays, and there are tons of companies that help facilitate those statistics.

The reason that shipped numbers are used in financial reports is because they are all that really matters to the bottom line. What it means for future profits(re-orders and such), is to investors to decide if it will be profitable the next quarter, and of course, for discussion on forums such as this to praise or discredit the reports for whatever reason someone sees fit.

[Abriael]

It's not that simple and not all retailers (especially the smaller ones) report back. And in fact ALL press releases by Sony including sell-through numbers clearly indicate in a disclaimer that they're based on estimates.

[AndrewLB]

Sony and their fanboys are full of sh*t. Here is the ACTUAL statement from Sony about the 7 million number.

http://blog.us.playstation....

NOWHERE does it say "sold to consumers".

[bleedsoe9mm]

confirmed MS is making money on each unit sold , it will be interesting (when we get sony's numbers ) to see how close they are to the cost of manufacture .

[Convas]

In this thread, armchair analysts tell us that MS is faltering and that we shouldn't be happy about growth for the XONE.

Always trust the seasoned and experienced knowledge of the various Financial advisors we have here on N4G!

*Note: There are very little ACTUALLY knowledgeable posters in this thread.

[AndrewLB]

I completely agree. I'm still amazed how many people have convinced themselves that "sell(sold)-through" means the number sold to the end-user aka the consumer.

Sell/Sold-through(thru) is a term that's always expressed as a percentage unless is has to do with CD/DVD/Blu-ray sales where it's the rare occasion that the the term is used as an number sold to consumers, not rentals.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

[Apex13]

Down Fanboys down.

Look at the numbers. XBOX isn't doing great at all. the numbers actually sold are bad when compared to the ps4, also even though revenue is up you have to look at the period it's comparing it to.

This is why MS keep giving shipped data and not sold data.
MS as a company are fine but gaming devision sucks right now so hopefully they turn it around.

[Dudebro90]

By that logic the ps4 is doing terrible because Samsung is selling more galaxy phones than ps4s.

Just because the ps4 is outselling the Xbox one, doesn't mean the Xbox one is failing. That is such flawed logic.

[JustPlay4]

And apple is selling more iphones then all of them combined, so what?

[LogicStomper]

@JustPlay4

You really don't understand the idea behind Dudebro's analogy do you? It's actually rather sad when someone has no clue on what the analogy is about, so you just add to it, thinking that it'll make a good argument.

Because you clearly failed at analysis, I'll explain it in baby steps for you.

a_adji stated that Xbox isn't doing great at all because it's not selling as much as PS4.

Dudebro90 has pointed out the flaw in a_adji's logic. Just because 'A' is selling more than 'B', it doesn't mean B is doing bad. So Dudebro makes an analogy, because galaxy phones are selling more than PS4, the means PS4's are selling badly.

Now think. Is PS4 actually selling badly? No they're not. But didn't Dudebro just state that PS4's were selling badly because PS4's had sold less than Galaxy phones? See the logical failure in that argument now? That is precisely what Dudebro was pointing out and you failed to capture that one and only idea.

The act of being outsold doesn't mean you're selling badly. I actually don't understand how you could have missed the point,seriously.

[mkis007]

Your comparison gave me cancer...hope you are proud of yourself.

[TheTowelBoy]

It's fanboy logic, obviously :P

[MysticStrummer]

"By that logic the ps4 is doing terrible because Samsung is selling more galaxy phones than ps4s."

Comparing the sales of two consoles is like comparing the sales of a console and a phone?

I don't think so.

LogicStomper, you lived up to your name by defending Dudebro's meaningless comparison. Congrats.

[LogicStomper]

@MysticStrummer

So you believe that because olympic runner X outran olympic runner Y by 0.3 seconds, olympic runner Y is a bad runner?

It's pretty saddening to see your inability to even grasp the idea behind a simple anology.

[04STIBluByU]

Dudebro...you compared phones to console sales...that was a bad comparison...then you realized you goofed...and then compared runners...much better comparison...here is the best comparison...Sony sells 7 mil+ PS4's and MS sells ~4 mil XB1's. This isn't about MS as a company vs Sony as a company. This is about our hobbies. I only care about who is giving me the best games to play.

[Apex13]

Dudebro90. Were you smoking when you wrote this? Xbox one by the numbers are not doing well. You comparisons to Samsung phone and a and a ps4 defies common sense and logic.
MS are doing well but Xbox Xbox isn't at the movement. FACT.

Don't cry because. I do have one but I'm not so anal about it as you guys that are in love with your machines....machinesssssss

[LogicStomper]

I've always found it hilarious how some can agree/disagree on comments without reasoning. It really shows how some people lack the ability to think, and instead, blindly agree/disagree depending on who the comment is praising/mocking. So, here is why you (a_adji) and all that disagree with Dudebro's analogy are utterly,utterly incorrect.

@04STIBluByU

"you compared phones to console sales...that was a bad comparison...then you realized you goofed...and then compared runners...much better comparison."

I agree with your idea, but you goofed up by mistaking Dudebro for me.

@a_adji

" You comparisons to Samsung phone and a and a ps4 defies common sense and logic."

I'd actually like to know how this comparison defies common sense and logic. An analogy is for expressing an idea by taking such idea and expressing it in another context. Now analogies are 'bad' when there are dissimilarities that are relevant to the idea the analogy is presenting. So the idea Dudebro90's analogy is presenting is that if X outsells Y, Y is therefore failing.

To emphasise my point, here is the argument of analogy:

"if X outsells Y, Y is therefore failing."

You comparison is with PS4 and Xbox One.
Dudebro90's comparison is with Galaxy phones and PS4.

Now here's the big question that undermines yours and everyone who disagreed with Dudebro's analogy.

'What are the RELEVANT (Big key word) dissimilarities between comparing 'PS4 and Xbox One' and 'PS4 and Galaxy phones' with regards to the idea of 'if X outsells Y, Y is therefore failing'?

You think that Galaxy phones are a relevant dissimilarity in the analogy? Explain how it is, when the idea presented is 'if X outsells Y, Y is therefore failing'. How does the act of having one species being compared being a phone change the conclusion of this idea? Dudebro90's idea is a universal idea. It doesn't matter what sales you compare, the conclusion of the idea remains false.

If you compare selling apples to Iphones, the conclusion of the idea 'if X outsells Y, Y is therefore failing' remains the false.

If you compare selling pens to graphics cards, the conclusion of 'if X outsells Y, Y is therefore failing' remains false.

If you compare selling toe-nails and selling Ferrari's, the conclusion of 'if X outsells Y, Y is therefore failing' remains false. No matter what sales you compare, it does not affect the truth or falsity of this idea. As I've already stated before, this very idea is a universal logical idea.

You sir, (and all others that disagreed with this man) have defied common sense and logic.

"MS are doing well but Xbox Xbox isn't at the movement. FACT. "

I do agree somewhat with this, but I definitely find this situation better than the following:

PS4 is doing well but Sony as an entirety isn't. FACT.

Do not be butt hurt nor cry over the fact you failed at arguing, failed at common sense, failed at logical thinking and, failed at trolling. Instead, build yourself a bridge and get over it.

[k3rn3ll]

Your wrong dude the numbers being sold are actually pretty damn good. Take into account all the bad press leading up to launch and resolutiongate. Then take into account that xbox is only available I n less than a third the countries that ps4. Now with those 2 things taken into account ps4 should be ahead by at least a 2-1 margin. At least. Actually a lot offanboys in january were predicting it to be even worse than that. MS knows that. Yea they wont be looking at it as the greatest launch ever but they know it should be alot worse. Just goes to show there are still a ton of loyal xbox fans

[jessupj]

I guess when you throw millions and millions into advertising something has to stick.

[Jazz4108]

And I suppose you think sony is doing good when they loose money every yearly report with the exception of the building sell off. Ms is makeing money and they are into alot more than xboxone but they are making billions and that is why you are in business. If you think sony is in business just to cater to the the sony fan then you have a lot to learn in business. Im sure sony would love to have ms's reported numbers. Whats you must remember is this a full out company profit report for the quarter and this is not about the xboxone and ps4 its about the health of MS and MS health is looking very good.

[DJustinUNCHAIND]

Why is everyone so upset?

[cyguration]

You must be new to N4G.

[WeAreLegion]

It's a numbers thing. People on both sides are taking pot shots at each other. It's ridiculous. It happens every time a financial results article pops up.

Try to ignore those people.

[denawayne]

GTF out of here! No need for rational people on this site.

[LogicStomper]

Because positive articles about Microsoft cannot be tolerated.

[randomass171]

People focus too much on numbers and apparently Xbox One doing decently is a bad thing or somehow threatening to Sony's success to some people. People are upset because they get antsy about little things that don't really affect them. But then, that's a lot of the internet.

[Apex13]

Down Fanboys down.

Look at the numbers? xBOX isnt doing great at all. the numbers actually sold are bad when compared to the ps4, also even though revenue is up you have to look at the period it's comparing it to.

This is why MS keep giving shipped data and not sold data.
MS as a company are fine but gaming devision sucks right now so hopefully they turn it around.

[Illusive_Man]

Microsoft brought in slightly less than a quarter of Sonys entire net worth in one quarter. Mind blowing.

[WeAreLegion]

It really is. They have all that money. How are they losing?

[Tedakin]

With that much money made, ask MS if they feel like they're losing. Sony would love to lose this big.

[MysticStrummer]

How do people confuse "XB1 isn't doing that well" with "MS isn't doing that well"?

As I said above, 1.2 million XB1s and 360s shipped in a quarter isn't great when your primary competition is selling so many more of just their new console on a consistent basis.

So far in it's history, XB1 is the best selling XB yet… because XB released very late against PS2 and because 360 was in short supply at the beginning of it's lifespan. If sales continue the way they are, at a certain point not too far in the future XB1 will cease to be the fastest selling XB.

[Illusive_Man]

Sony loyalty is still high but Microsoft greatly eroded it last gen. Losing is subjective. Behind in sales? Yes. Losing, hardly.

[MultiConsoleGamer]

Even more so when you consider Sony hasn't made a profit company wide in 9 consecutive years. They have posted fiscal losses for almost a decade straight.

[Gamer666]

Yep, if anyone here was told they have to put all their wealth in either Sony or Microsoft stock it is pretty obvious which one to choose...

MS who has made profits forever or Sony who has lost money forever...

[KinjoTakemura]

The only division of Sony Corporation that is losing money is the electronics division. Sony Financial, Sony Music, Sony Pictures, Playstation/Sony Computer Entertainment are all profitable. Please stop posting statements saying that Sony Corporation as a whole is losing money, it is a LIE!!!

[MultiConsoleGamer]

I wasn't going to comment any further on this article but since you called me a liar I'm going to set the record straight.

In 2009 the PlayStation division posted a loss of 4.7 Billion. At this time their only unprofitable product was the PS3.

>Sony PS division has lost $4.7 billion since launching PS3

http://www.vg247.com/2009/1...

By 2012 Sony had lost another 2.8 Billion on the PlayStation division.

>Sony PlayStation division suffers full-year $2.8bn loss

http://www.gamesindustry.bi...

At this time the Vita and the PS3 were already losing money for the company.

Now we know the Vita isn't profitable because Kaz Hirai said so himself.

>Kaz Hirai: Vita to be profitable within 3 years

http://www.gamespot.com/art...

Recently the PS4 turned a small profit for the gaming division, but it was offset by Billion dollar losses company wide. The PS4 will never recoup the losses made by the PS3. It would literally have to sell more than the PS2 for that to happen.

And now for the bad news regarding Sony's company wide profits.

In 2011 Kaz Hirai stated that the company had seen 7 years of financial losses.

http://usatoday30.usatoday....

>"Management is feeling a serious sense of crisis about the seven years of losses," said Executive Deputy President Kaz Hirai."

In 2012 they posted the biggest loss in electronics history. A full 6.4 Billion dollars.

http://www.reuters.com/arti...

>Sony sees record $6.4 billion loss on tax hit

Their 2013 fiscal year just ended, and for that period the company is projecting a loss over 1.1 Billion.

http://www.bloomberg.com/ne...

>Sony Forecasts $1.1 Billion Loss as Hirai Sells PC Unit

So there you have it. Your claims are thoroughly refuted.

Hey, if you want to continue, let's talk about all the high profile defections and assets sales that have taken place at an increasingly frequent and alarming rate over the past several years. The past three months in particular. Something BIG is going down. Very big.

[BitbyDeath]

'The PS4 will never recoup the losses made by the PS3.'

It already has. A lot of the PS3 losses evened out with the PS1 and PS2 profits.

"December 31, 2013, the PS4 launch -- and a favorable foreign exchange rate -- pushed the PlayStation sector back into the black."

http://www.gamasutra.com/vi...

[MultiConsoleGamer]

@Bitby

They're talking about the PS Division being back in the black for the quarter, after a long period of financial losses. I mentioned all of this in my post.

The PS4 did not make back the roughly 6 Billion lost by by the ps3. The article you posted does not even mention recouping any losses. They're just saying the ps4 helped the PS Division return to profitability after many years of being in the red.

From the article" Sony's game business has been recording losses for a while now, but for the quarter ended December 31, 2013, the PS4 launch -- and a favorable foreign exchange rate -- pushed the PlayStation sector back into the black." Please note the part that says for the quarter. Also note that a favorable foreign exchange rate helped the division and it was not the ps4 alone.

One more bit from the article you posted:

"As a result, the company now expects losses of 110 billion yen ($1.1 billion) for the full fiscal year."

This 1.1 Billion dollar loss company wide was mentioned earlier.

Good god your reply is embarrassing. Try harder next time.

[BitbyDeath]

@MCG, you are incorrect. You are adding your own spin on an article that is clear as day.

The money lost on PS3 was mostly absorbed by the profits made with the PS1 and PS2. PS3 itself actually started making money back in 2010.

And here is a link to prove that.

http://techland.time.com/20...

As you can see the division has been making money for quite sometime now and it was only recently the division itself came back in black.

[MultiConsoleGamer]

@Bitby.

To put it bluntly you are completely wrong in all regards.

"The money lost on PS3 was mostly absorbed by the profits made with the PS1 and PS2. PS3 itself actually started making money back in 2010."

This is also wrong. The first part of this statement is a blatent lie. While Sony no longer loses money in each ps3 unit, they will never recoup the losses they took on the machine. The simple fact that you don't know the difference between making a unit profit and being profitable proves you have no idea what you're talking about.

Even sony's own Yoshida agrees with me. Here are his own words from the very article you posted:

"This year is the first time that we are able to cover the cost of the PlayStation 3,” Yoshida said. “We aren’t making huge money from hardware, but we aren’t bleeding like we used to.”

No recoup of losses. They're just not losing money on each unit sold. Once again you're reading comprehension skills are inadequate and you've failed to prove your case, causing yourself further embarrassment.

BTW, the article you posted is from 2010. The playstation division did not return to profit until December 2013. Once again the link you have posted backs my every word.

My god, my friend, you are really, really bad at this.

[BitbyDeath]

@MCG, I can't post anything more than what the site is already saying.

"December 31, 2013, the PS4 launch -- and a favorable foreign exchange rate -- pushed the PlayStation sector back into the black."

And why do you keep insisting on going off topic? Stick to the subject matter which is the Playstation Division is in the black. If you have another article which refutes this claim then let it be known otherwise you are just making things up to suit your agenda.

Stick to the facts, provide some links to backup what you are saying and stick to the topic rather than going off and talking about Sony as a whole as well. That is irrelevant to the link I posted.

[BitbyDeath]

You don't understand business at all.
You cannot return to black in one quarter, it does not work that way.

If you are in red and you profit in a quarter you are still in red, that profit goes to filling the void. You do not go to black for a single quarter. That is not what black means.

You are reading it all wrong and yes Sony first started making profits back in 2010 on the PS3 unit not on the division as per my link.

Playstation Sector was not profitable then just the PS3 unit itself, do you understand?

Playstation Sector returned to black or aka became profitable as mentioned in the first link I posted. You cannot refute facts although you appear to be trying very hard.

[Julion0715]

Why do ppl keep dragging ps4 in xbox articles go away the company isn't doomed like u want/say stop pretending to be financial advisors

[Veneno]

I see u are new to the site and werent around last gen when Sony was the one that was doomed.

[BABY-JEDI]

Regardless of what company/faction you support. This is good news for the industry as a whole. Without competition, we the consumers would get screwed.

[azure1990]

LOL so when did these Sony fanboys get their MBA and become a financial advisor LOL. Seriously you people are blow my mind. Xbox One is doing perfectly fine, it's just PS4 is doing amazing. Go read the damn report and you'll see why it's doing okay. It's not in this so called "red" you fanboys want to say.

Edit: Before it doesn't allow me to edit. I really don't know much about this either. But it's flashing good news not bad.

[MultiConsoleGamer]

B-b-bbut the trolls and click bait sites told me MS was going to sell the Xbox brand!

In all seriousness, that's a very good report. It makes MS the only profitable hardware company in the gaming business.

[bligmerk]

Look at those charts closely. The only line that applies to the Xbox division, which is XBO and 360, labeled Devices and Consumer Hardware. Also, revenue is essentially gross, so gross margin is essentially net.

Then look at the data for the comparable time period in 2013, the first quarter and the 9 months prior to the first quarter, compared to 2014. That division has dropped considerably over the same time in 2013:

Devices and Consumer Hardware
2014 Q1
258
2013 Q1
393

Also, MS said they shipped 1.2 million in the last quarter. That is Jan-Feb-Mar. Sony hasn't said how many they sold through during that time period but by the end of December, they said 4 million sold through. Now, for this first quarter, they have announced a sell-through of 7 million. Simple arithmetic shows they sold 3 million PS4 last quarter compared to 1.2 million XBO shipped (and this is a significant term now, since it appears about 1 million XBO are on shelves and in warehouses, obsolete in 2013 and getting more obsolete by the day).

[BitbyDeath]

Last quarter Xbox had a shipped vs sold difference of 900k.

So in total it should be roughly 4.2 million Xbox vs 7 million PS4 sold.

[TheRealHeisenberg]

Lol, you feel better now?

[LightDiego]

Amazing numbers. Better than that, just Apple and Facebook.
Profit it's a Xbox exclusive.

[Tedakin]

But I thought the Xbox One was the biggest failure in the history of Earth.... The internet exaggerated :(

[Ko_Uraki]

Ps4 is doing clearly better. But the xbox division is generating a good profit.
To be successfull they are doing the right moves. To be competitive with sony they need to do more.

[Gamer666]

Who cares about number one if you are more profitable?

What drugs are you people on?

Any business owner will tell you they would rather own stock in a company that is profitable than the number one company who is not.

[reggiesucks12321]

Who cares about any of this unless you own the company? Just enjoy your X1/PS4.

[Peternorth]

Look out here come all the investors and business analyst. I wanna be just like u guys when I grow up. Just chill out none of this news is threating sony in any way ur insecurity really is a killjoy

[kewlkat007]

Xbox division is doing way better than the 360.... They awright...again much more expensive than any console at launch. If the software ratio is in their favor them they making money.

[JohnS1313]

Who cares how many Xbox Ones they shipped? Shipped numbers don't matter. Sold numbers are what matter.

[LogicStomper]

Why do we care about sold numbers?

[Hicken]

Because sold is what really indicates demand? Because people kinda need consoles to play the games they buy and use Live, and it's through these things that companies truly profit off the consoles?

[No_Limit]

LOL, people like John 31313 and Hickem are delusional. You guys need to learn how Financial report works. Everything is posted as shipped numbers for EVERY company. Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, Sony, it doesn't matter, sold figures to customer is never listed in these reports because shipped to retailers is considered sold to these company. When Sony soon announce their financial report, they will list shipped numbers for PS4 as well.

Here is an example from Sony regarding a product from their April to June quarter in 2013.

Read more: Sony’s 9.6 Million Smartphone Shipments Boost Latest Quarterly Financials http://www.techinasia.com/s...

[aragon]

It funny at the end of the article it says xbox is doing fine lol.

[Spikes1471]

It is though;.

[aragon]

lol i know but i thought they were gonna sell xbox lol

[BG11579]

You can't sell a business that is not doing ok.
At each one of these meeting, theh must sell the sucess story to the investors to make them believe they are not loosing time and money.
At the end of the meeting, investors will dedide were the put the money in the company.

[WilDRangeRrfc]

I have both consoles but the Sony die hards on this site are embarressing,I like both consoles and PS4 is beast but all the gloating and constant trolling of MS and Xbox is actually making me prefer X1 and it's fan base as I feel I should support the underdog and Sony die hards are getting far to arrogant and smug for my liking,I think its clear to see that 360 was way more profitable than PS3 way more!!! MS are leagues above Sony and X1 with 3 million less sales have made as much money as Sony on hardware,software sales again are equal and Sony have sold nearly double the amount of consoles!! Every time one of you Sony fans want to gloat ( only the trolls and vile fanboys not true Sony fans and real gamers ) just remember which company is truly winning making money and more likely to exist in 20 years

[HurtfulTimez]

And its people like you who write things like this that makes me not be able to stand xbox fanboys. And by your analogy since ms are leagues above with sooooo much money than sony, would that not make sony the underdog to you? dont get caught up in the drama on here, i guess you werent around 3+ years ago when the xbox fans would not STFU about every little thing it had over the ps3. its just redemption time for the ps fans thats why there is so much negativity on this site.

[My_Outer_Heaven]

Shipped shipped shipped... we don't care about how many are shipped.. we do care about how many are actually sold to consumers. Wow so Microsoft have shipped loads of Xbox Ones but they aren't selling if they are still stuck in stores. People are spending their money on PS4's instead.

God I hate MS and there bullshit...they are always using smoke and mirrors on either demos or statistics and it doesnt work anymore, why can't they just be more honest instead of screw people over and over.

The latest Final Bosman episode made me laugh regarding the Xbox One at GameTrailers.com he uses a fake show as a simile to explain that PS4 is still doing better no matter what Microsoft try to pull.

http://www.gametrailers.com...

[TheRealHeisenberg]

It hurts doesn't it? Some of you all take this too seriously. PlayStation is doing great and has much to offer so why not focus on that instead of your unhealthy and unproductive hate towards MS. You could put some years back on your life if you avoided any information MS related let alone their products that you have no desire to support.

[KinjoTakemura]

I see people are still posting nonsense about Sony and the Playstation division. During Sony's fiscal year 2014, Sony posted a profit of 30 billion yen/295 million dollars. Sony's 2014 fiscal year ended March, so to those of you who still post quarterly reports and use them to describe Sony's financial health, please stop. It's silly and pathetic.

http://www.joystiq.com/2014...

"Sony's announcement comes as the company posted a strong Q3 net profit of $257 million, boosted by the launch of the PlayStation 4."

The 1.1 billion dollar loss only pertains to Sony's electronics division/TV, Laptops, and computers.

http://www.businessweek.com...

READ "Not all companies with Sony (SNE) in the name are toxic. Take Sony Financial, the insurer in which Sony owns a 60 percent stake. While the parent company said last week that it expects to lose $1.1 billion for the 2013-14 fiscal year, Sony Financial is doing just fine, thanks."

Again, stop posting nonsense. Sony is a multi-national conglomerate, they will never lose money!!!

[TheRealHeisenberg]

Great, now take a chill pill, have a warm cup of milk and relax. Mommy will be up to tuck you in soon.

[kenshiro100]

This is N4G. Facts and logic are ignored here.

[ALLWRONG]

Sony is going bankrupt, that's why they keep selling off assets.

Wake up!

[jmac53]

Your name says it all.

[Predaking77]

You now there is a problem when Microsoft has been completely silent about sales of the console being sold to customers. Microsoft has always brag about sales numbers, ALWAYS.

Instead, what we have received is statistics about zombies killed.

[air1]

Damn... A lot of you despise ms beyond belief! You ppl can turn any positive into a negative, what is wrong with you sony fanatics?

Ms can cure cancer and all you kids will just reply... It's decades too late too many ppl already died..

[TheRealHeisenberg]

Lol, to them MS is the cancer or caused it.

[air1]

Ha! You're right only it's more like ms is the cancer AND caused it! Lol

[Ch1d0r1]

MS and electronics as a whole, for example cell phones, will contribute to giving us cancer more than curing it. These devices are emitting radiation all the time and we stick them in our pockets all day long (some of us)

[air1]

We'll.... I have to say you have a point! I can't work with out my cell phone, like literally I just can't I'm dispatched by my cell phone..

Dah we'll... Bad analogy.. I thought it was bad before I posted it and obviously you just pointed out how bad it was lol..

We'll there you have it folks ms can create cancer and Sony is right there with them, if you think about it Sony is worse since they've sold more electronics.. You know how many Sony Walkmans I've owned and fell asleep with when I was a kid!

[Skate-AK]

Congratulations Microsoft.

[Julion0715]

I understand that sony might have been on the wrong end last generation but this is getting out of hand now anything positive x1 like dx12 ppl turn into developers knowing exactly how it will be used or they know exactly how much the xbox division is bringing in and how they know ms pays ppl off like damn relax u would swear ppl get paid around here to comment pro sony comments all day

[gamertk421]

I see troll people...

[corroios]

So much Money and they built a machine Like That... Nothing cutting edge and strugling to reach 1080p...

[B_Real]

Wow...the amount of people who have no financial or business background commenting on financial matters like they know what they are even remotely talking about is staggering. Most people seem to be nitpicking over Microsoft stating it's units shipped 2 million (1.2 million Xbox Ones) and act like that is a poor number because they are comparing it to Sony. News flash, you don't compare your numbers to other businesses, you compare your numbers to earlier comparable numbers within YOUR OWN BUSINESS. It is simple ratio analysis. Who cares what Sony is selling? Xbox One is selling 60% more than the original 360, and revenue is up 45%. Any analyst worth his salt would be glad to see these numbers. As far as they are concerned Xbox is gaining market share from Nintendo.

@NewMonday, "gross margin decrease by 34%" - gross margin is the percent of every dollar in revenue that is profit after covering the costs of the product. It makes sense that gross margin ratio would decrease because Xbox One's cost a higher proportional ratio to produce than xbox 360. Basically, less of every dollar in revenue goes to cover other cost. This is normal and expected, and the fact that Revenues jump 45% outweighs a 34% decrease in revenue.

[URtheWalrus]

I'm not some kind of financial wizard, but what I do know is that retailer's are not gonna continue to buy product from the manufacturer if it's not selling and just sitting on the shelves!

[Tedakin]

340k sold in March in only 14 territories. I think it's selling.

[supercpu]

eg 1 million units spread over 13 territories xboxone , sony spread over 50 territories now that is spreading very thinly with the 1 million units ... now think about it lol they gonna sell out ..... and again disagree all you want lol .

[AceofStaves]

I can't believe some XBox fans cling to this argument. Yes, MS launched in few territories, but those territories are where the bulk of its market is in, North America and the UK.

[URtheWalrus]

Sorry guys I was actually defending Microsoft by saying that the XB1 isn't just sitting on shelves because if it were, retailers wouldn't continue to buy them.

[horndog]

@urthewulrus

Just because xbox one isn't selling at the pace that play station is doesn't mean it ain't selling. You don't have to be a financial wizard to know that either.

[CaptainPunch]

Expect more console sales when more games drop on both systems, honestly don't understand this fanboy mentality or hate. Competition is good for the industry.

[supercpu]

keeps moving the bar forwards ..... well said !!!!!

oh here come the disagree's lol

think about it if there was no xbox would there be online gaming on consoles and all the extras ????

sony are well known to stagnate and that goes to over companies as well. competition is good people . stop with the hating.

[supercpu]

great news for MS its good to stand under your umbrella.

i wonder what's happening to sony ?
sorry but sony are no saints .... i have been a fan of there products and only woke up sony are the ones ripping us off .
12 month warranty and on the 14 on wards they break down so you get it repaired or buy another one tut! tut ! . disagree all you want :)

[AceofStaves]

My experience was totally different. I bought a PS1 in 1997, a PS2 at launch, a PS3 at launch, and a PS4 at launch. All four machines still work.

You may feel that Sony ripped you off, but please, don't speak for everyone. :)
Feel free to disagree if you want. It's all good.

[HurtfulTimez]

well after going through 5 xbox 360s but still have my original 80gb ps3 from 2008 i can say that your comment is pathetic. the worst was my 360 not working due to 1 red light THE DAY AFTER warranty expired but because it wasnt the 3 red lights i had to pay £60 for the repair. shoddy hardware poor cust service ripping people off is what ms stands for

[Geekman]

Shipped, not sold. We don't CARE how many were shipped!

[hello12]

Microsoft is managed better as they don't have the same crippling issues as Sony. Sony is rip to be taken over or be merged with another company.

[IndoAssassin]

Good now this will cause less 3rd party exclusives so everyone can enjoy more games.

Now MS has to realize that they need to significantly increase their 1st party output so I can enjoy my Xbox One more. I hope they choose that route rather than continuously buying out third party exclusives.

[finito82]

nice job microsoft.

[kenshiro100]

Very interesting.

[ArbitorChief]

Meanwhile Sony forecasts a $1.1 billion loss XD

So much for Xbox being doomed!!! Gotta love N4G armchair economists XD It must be painful for you to hear that Xbox and Microsoft are profiting while Sony continues the downward spiral of bankruptcy XD

[kenshiro100]

So you're happy Sony posted a loss.

Good for you.

Keep in mind that without Sony, Microsoft wouldn't have entered the industry with their console.

[ArbitorChief]

And Sony wouldn't of entered if it wasn't for Nintendo.

[kenshiro100]

No, they wouldn't have. Each company need competition. Instead of cheering over Sony and their problems, think about that.

Good for Microsoft for making money because that wasn't even surprising to begin with but to brag because their competitor has financial woes is childish at best.

We're gamers first and foremost.

You're no better than the fanboys you complain about.

[Ginesis]

I like how everyone's suddenly a financial analyst lol N.4.G at its best. These are good numbers whether it be "net" or "gross". I bet when Sonys earnings come out there will be nothing but praise when in all actuality Sony's numbers will have no choice but to improve and look great because they've been soo low. Expect sony to mention percentages a lot in there report because those will be the most impressive for them.

[AceofStaves]

No worries, the armchair analysts of N4G will be out predicting the inevitable demise of Sony. It happens.

Sony's sold-to-customers numbers for PS4 are certainly impressive. It will be interesting if they note how many they've shipped, so we have a better comparison figure to MS' shipped totals.

[AutoCad]

Damn MS share the wealth lol..
How did sony go from 160b company to a 6b company?
maybe the real estate market will help them out.

[Steelmanner]

Now I have seen it all. I have seen Sony fans fight Microsoft fans over some pretty dumb stuff, but come on guys really. Microsoft is not making a personal attack on Sony by posting their earnings. Plus, sorry to burst your bubble, but Sony is not worth more than Microsoft, quite the opposite. In addition, until Sony gives up their sales info, we can' make a solid sales comparison, so everyone just chill out. This crap is what is ruining N4G.

[horndog]

Amazing numbers for MS in general. I hope Sony makes a profit as well. Maybe they will be happy to report sales of liquidation of their assets.

"We have closed down and sold the new York office property for a sum of 600 million making this a very profitable quarter. If you convert that into pesos that triples our net profit". Lol!! But seriously I hope they do well.

[Longshot28]

PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE WORD SHIPPED!

[xkevmandc]

well,, let's see how much Sony lost....

[xkevmandc]

Xbox one don't need to out sale Sony PS4!!!! Sony having a financial problems. not Microsoft...

[Flames76]

Damn xbox division is on fire over 5 million consoles in 4 months in 13 countrys.Not only that but pulling in profit unlike the PS4 which is losing $60 a console.Keep up the good work microsoft gonna be another great year of gaming thanks to Xbox

[pornflakes]

MS is a beast....

MS NET profit in 2013 = 21,86 Bill. USD

Thats more than 30 times what Sony did... after a 5 year loss since 2008

[Mister_G]

Shipped != Sold :)

[Skankinruby]

Lol you children make me laugh. Microsofts gaming division has been a money pit for years and heavy rumors are going around that they're considering selling off the entire Xbox brand. Sonys gaming division has become the money maker as Ps4 has boosted Sony's gaming profits 67 percent and its showing no signs of losing momentum. And notice that nowhere in this article doors it say Microsoft made profit, revenue being up at best means they're losing less money.

[Ginesis]

Xbox Original was the only true "money pit" for Microsoft Xbox 360 was only because of RROD and Xbox One sell at a gain right from the beginning. Let me remind that no system has been as big of a money pit as the PS3; they lost BILLIONS because of that console, which helped put them in the financial state they're in now. I loved the PS3 its a fantastic system but if any console would make a company sell off their gaming division it would of been the PS3.

P.S. That sell off rumor is old news and microsoft has squashed that many times. Get with the times man.

[Skankinruby]

As far as losses go you need to do a little proof reading. Microsoft's gaming division is still losing 2 billion per year on average. Theres no denying sony took a huge hit on the ps3 but it was for a reason. They pushed the blu ray technology hard and it worked, now as to wether that was a good investment or not is definitely debatable. But these people here arrogantly flapping their gums about sony losing money sound like idiots, and you better believe that without Sony making the sacrifices they did that console gaming wouldn't even be close to where it is now.

[Ginesis]

Xbox is not losing 2 billion a year, to state that is simply ridiculous. I would love to see that article. Also each company has contributed to the industry to make Sony soo significant is losing sight on all those who have contributed to gaming. Whether people like it or not Microsoft has also contributed to bringing great things to gaming as has Nintendo, Sega, Panasonic, Atari and the many others that have come through. Don't let your dislike of a company cloud your memory.

[user9558903]

Sony fanboys only consider bad news and rumors about microsoft to be true. Any good news is automatically fake. That's why he still believes the rumors that they are selling off the Xbox division when it has been disproven multiple times

[Solid_Penguin-64]

If MS profits, they can push Xbox further. In turn, this will prompt Sony to push PS further. Result? We win. Happy days :D

[modesign]

im guessing a good lump of the 2billion profits will go to the execs pockets instead of being invested into the developers and publishers.

[AutoCad]

Its funny how people seem to concentrate on the word shipped lol..
You do know that MS sells the consoles to retailers and the retailers sell it to us.MS is still getting their money lol.
Sony used shipped sales the whole last year on the PS3,how quickly people forget.
Also,Xbox is only out in 13-14 countries compared to PS4 60-70 regions.You dont think MS can sell 2-3million consoles in 50 extra regions?
These xbox numbers are unbelievable with the console being 100 dollars more.

ONLY ON NPS4G

[gedden7]

And this is why $2 billion and counting in losses is not that big a deal.... Until they stop the bleeding.

[Ch1d0r1]

Congratulations MS! They can funnel in money from their other successful companies to keep the Xbone alive. They can invest millions in new ideas to convince their user base not to jump ship. Things like the cloud and secret hardware yet to be unleashed that will improve our gaming experience. Lots and lots of empty promises.

Meanwhile over there at SONY the PS4 is working fine at 60fps 1080p. What some people don't realize is that development will also improve for the PS4, they say give the xbone time and it will be tuned and be able to produce just like the PS4. Well guess what PS4 development will also be tweaked and produce better results that what we are seeing now.

[Hold_It]

That's all good and all but when is Microsoft going to remove their parity clause? This console generation doesn't seem "next-gen" when the PS2/Xbox/Gamecube era didn't have parity and the best console was the best console and there was no gimping, but here generations later, it is decided to be a great idea.

People complain how PS4 multiplatform games look bad and same with Xbox One, but if they were both able to utilize the full power of the console and not have a gimp war, they could do more with both consoles and each could enjoy their own at the full potential. It's just really dumb to only be able to utilize everything when it's exclusive only.

[urwifeminder]

Plenty of revenue to dump back into the business this is great news for us xb fans , can afford a few games to bomb means they will be taking some nice risks with new games.