Sony is certainly no stranger to silly statements, with its hubris heading into the previous generation providing plenty of memes which still do the rounds today. However, it would appear that Microsoft learned nothing from the Japanese giant’s biggest blunders, as the firm is still making some wince inducing statements regarding the competition – despite putting its device on a level playing field with the PlayStation 4.
The latest corker comes courtesy of chief marketing and strategy officer Yusuf Mehdi, who was recently asked by Forbes to explain the disparity in sales between the Xbox One and its competitor’s aforementioned console. For those out of the loop, the PlayStation maker has shifted over seven million next-gen systems to date, while the Redmond-based firm has managed to ship a slightly less impressive five million.
“It's hard to really assess the gap in sales,” the executive stated. “They’re in many more markets right now than we are. They're in 40 plus markets, we're in 13.” It’s a fair answer, though one could argue that Microsoft has focused on the regions where its brand has historically fared best. Territories such as Continental Europe and Asia have typically favoured PlayStation platforms, so it’ll be interesting to see how the Xbox One fares when it launches globally this September.
Mehdi continued, however, that another reason for the difference in sales is due to consumers being more satisfied with the Xbox 360 than the PlayStation 3, and thus being less inclined to upgrade. “People have been more satisfied with the Xbox 360 than the PS3, so in that respect people have less of a need to upgrade in the short-term due to regular updates for the Xbox 360,” he explained. “We could point to any number of things.”
While we’re sure that the outspoken executive has some customer research to back up his point, the comment seems a bit short-sighted. For starters, we’re not convinced that consumers would be eager to upgrade to the PS3’s successor if they weren’t happy with its predecessor. Moreover, we’d argue that the ageing system has actually matured very gracefully, likely deterring some gamers from purchasing a PS4.
We understand that it’s Mehdi’s job to paint his employer’s brand in the best possible light, but we think that this quote would have looked a lot better without the backhanded jab. Do you agree with the suit’s statement, or do you think that it was a bit misjudged? Let us know in the comments section below.
[source forbes.com, via gamespot.com]
Comments 46
Yeah everyone really enjoyed owning 4 Xbox 360's thanks to the RROD!
I would agree with ms 100%. Is pachter doing some consultancy work for them, it would explain a lot.
If the guy was any more full of crap, he'd have sunflowers sprouting from every orifice.
You only have to look at forums and social media to know that a lot of PS3 owners don't currently see any reason to upgrade, while a lot of 360 owners are switching to PS4 because the XBone is a bit of a farce - a running joke that's only gathering pace with the latest announcements.
if i had been satisfied at all with the 360, ie. hadn't gone through 3 of them in the first year with the RROD, i never would have bought a PS3 or later the PS4. I bought the PS4 early simply because the PS3 was such a great system.
is that why by the time the ps4 was released the ps3 had sold more units worldwide than the 360
sure fans were unsatisfied with the ps3
I m sure most xbox owners think he's an idiot
I am glad SONY's PlayStation brand survived Microsoft's and the internet's hate these past few years because a World with just Microsoft as just a Console maker would be DREADFUL :-/ + I hope gamers don't forget how Microsoft tried to DRM them to(because once(maybe next-gen) when everything gaming is online then the people who supported MS will be sorry they did) :-/
I had 3 or 4 xbox 360s. Honestly I prefered it to my ps3 due to the party chat and having more friends on it. But around the xbone announcement I grew tired of it and all my mates also migrated to ps4. Fed up of the crap they kept coming out with. And tired of paying them more and more money every year. Still playing my ps3 now though.Mostly due to ps+ . Love sony. Microsoft seems like an unnecessary effort
So the same could be said for the original xbox?
Cause ps3 wasn't totally mind-blowing after ps2 era. Boy, I just couldn't throw out my old p.o.s.3 fast enough when I heard they'd fixed that catastrophe of a console. Who needs b/c? Not anyone I know of. Forget the past and then make up lies about what you'd liked the past to have been. (Wtf, ms?)
@daveh30 This. Thanks.
At this point I bet the PS Vita is making more money than the Xbox One.
So many epic burns in this comment section.
@get2sammyb I should probably point out that Sony has sold well over 7 million PS4s to consumers and MS have danced around the fact the they have actually only sold over 5 million units to shops, not consumers. This has actually led to them temporarily halting production. [Thanks Neogaf]
Well he is partially true in his statement for me anyways. I did get an Xbox 360 cause I was unsatisfied with the PS3, However I got a PS4 cause I was unsatisfied with how the Xbox One looked.
I was indeed very satisfied with my 360. Enjoyed it a lot and had many wonderful hours, despite the fact that I went through 4 consoles, luckily all covered by warranty. Never warmed to the PS3 really, mostly due to Sonys disgusting arrogance at the start of the lat gen, the insane price and the DS3, which I personally find terrible. I liked the 360s pad a lot better. So despite the terrible failure rate, I was a happy customer because I liked the games, the controller and the service.
That said, I switched to PS4 mainly because Microsofts terrible policies concerning the X1 and the bs-ing the customers. it was obvious that they totally lost touch with their fanbase. I was so enraged about their original intentions that I even stopped buying games for my 360 because I didn't want to give MS any money at all.
So, after owning a PS1 and PS2, I went to Sony again.
In other words: I was a satisfied, loyal 360 customer that MS drove away with all the stuff they pulled off. And there's plenty of gamers among my friends who also were happy 360 owners, didn't own a PS3 (and didn't want to) but still switched over to Sony for the above reasons.
We all are very happy now with the PS4 because it's clearly the better system and Sony worked loads on their attitude and such.
Also, judging from the comments on this site and others, there's plenty of PS3 owners out there who are very satisfied customers and see no need to upgrade because they still have a huge backlog on their trusty No. 3.
I dare predict this arrogant comment by Mehdi won't help Microsoft much, because it disregards former Xbox customers like me and my friends.
@Reverend_Skeeve ditto. Well said.
Microsoft eating sour grapes.
Yusuf Mehdi making this statement was unnecessary and uncalled for. There was no need for him to specifically mention PlayStation or draw comparisons like that. I didn't like it when Andrew House was smack talking about flip-flopping and I certainly don't like this.
I make a point of not participating in console fanboyism but what Yusuf Mehdi said was out of whack. I know they're under a lot of pressure at the moment but he should maintain some semblance of professionalism and concentrate on how he can improve Xbox One instead of making pointless comparisons regarding the competition or upgrade paths.
bah, it's all in entertainment and sour grapes is rightfully deserved. I like console wars, it's entertainment and every now and then it's not to bad to participate in them.
Sony is much more respectable company in terms of its consoles without all the crap. Also the PS3 imo was miles and miles better than the 360, the exclusive games says it all, you cant get JoJo All Star Battle on 360...
I certainly was unsure about upgrading to the PS4 because I'm still so happy with my PS3...the last generation console is still an excellent machine. In fact I know people who switched to PS from xbox this generation and then went onto buy a PS3 as well to take advantage of the back catalogue and get better value from PS+
God I hate marketing people...
Anyone know how many people actually went through with that MS offer of trading in your PS3 for $100 off the Xbox One in the run up to launch? Makes me wonder as this kind of comment seems to be a bit contrary to them feeling the need to tempt PS3 owners off in the first place.
@Reverend_Skeeve: That's exactly how I felt. Still now that I have used the DS 4 I find it that I enjoy it alot more then the 360 controller.
@Tasuki Same here. The DS4 is hands down the best video game controller I've ever used, period. And I game for about 33 years by now
No, seriously. First time I held it it just melted into my hand. Everything I didn't like about the DS3 has been addressed and improved with the 4. Awesome job, Sony!
I love my 360 and ps3 but for me personally ps3 really got a lot more attention from me these last couple of years and the amount of awesome games I have got with playstation plus since I have had it could be seen as a deterrent to make the upgrade to ps4 but I still got ps4 so this seems like a silly thing to say. I suppose the chief marketing guy can't exactly say 'of course the ps4 is selling more it's cheaper and everyone and their nans know that it runs games better'
I just hope Sony doesn't follow m$ immature route of silly comments. I simply follow playstation cos it's got the best exclusive games and variety, the best community and a company who sticks to its words and made a the most powerful console for the gamers. Bring us games not silly remarks please.
Everyones smarta$$ comments aside, I agree with him...to a degree. The Xbox 360 was amazing from the start and is still an amazing system, its downfalls are the dvd player. Now with PS3, its downfall was the first couple years of its life (controller with no rumble, stupid six axis, no trophy support) honestly, the ps3 didnt feel really next gen, aside from the games and the blu-ray player. I think people are upgrading from PS3 to PS4 because they love the new changes that Sony has made, while with Xbox 360 and One, they seem very similar other then the multimedia functions and the graphics.
Honestly, its hard to say why for sure....maybe Sony just did everything right at the beginning, and Xbox fans knew Microsoft screwed up so much there waiting for them to fix their mistakes (making a Kinect-less bundle at $399 is a big help).
Or maybe some store has a program "ps4 discout by selling your xbox360"?
Oh wait
It's hard to nail down exactly why one product out sells another. I don't think it's any ONE reason, though I'd wager a guess that the mandatory online 24 hour checks, no used games, and DRM policies of their reveal played a large part of it. That and the fact many burned through 3+ 360's from the RRoD. People don't TRUST an Xbox console at launch. And rightly so.
It's not like selling 5 million as opposed to 7 million is even anything to be ashamed of anyways. I mean, Sony shouldn't be feeling high and mighty about this. The generation has just begun, and a gap of 2 million is literal pocket change when it comes to total sales in the years to come. I'd have just said that- what's 2 million sales out of the 80+ million the consoles will sell in the long run? PS4 and X1 have been out 6 months. This isn't victory lap time. And MS shouldn't have felt the need to deflect this question with justification, because Sony having 2 million more sales atm is meaningless anyways.
Ehh, I'm really not a fan of MS as a company. I'll be buying an X1 DESPITE comments like these. They're lucky they have a decent console and some good games coming because honestly, their haughty attitude and lack of cultural history in gaming really turns me off. I know PS is just a division of larger, non-gaming entity too but they have at least assimilated into the culture.
So the ps4 is selling so well because the ps3 was rubbish? Well yeah that makes perfect sense... Idiots
Ok so I had the xbox 360 and thought yea stay with M$ as I was happy with the 360 so yep went and brought the X1 and after about 48hrs I wasn't playing it, it was just collecting dust I wasn't happy with the party chat and the way things are locked out!! I don't think M$ knows the saying "if it's not broken don't fix it!" And that's what they have tried to do with the X1 lock party up, everyone knows the specs are worse in X1 too so I sold mine and brought the PS4!! I wanted a pure gaming machine!! Had nothing to lose at this point as I was so gutted about the X1.... anyways after setting it up and thinking the controller was weird to hold, I started playing and that was that!! Massive smile every time I pick the controller up and turn it on! And the controller itself is amazing!! I play all the time and I've pre-ordered all my future PS4 games and very much looking forward to some new games eg Destiny!! And watch dogs!! Never had PS3 so the "hole" PSN free game is cool!! I've downloaded everyone since the PS4 started and apart from this last one, I've been playing them In between proper gaming! I'm a fan of indie games they make a change to "serious" gaming and SONY seem to know what there doing!! So to this STUPID man...... I changed next gen consoles because YOU messed up the X1!!..........The End
Looking back on my history I always did like playstation the only reason I went with 360 is pretty obvious it came out early. That is the only reason a lot of people went with it. Then since all your buddies had you just stuck with it even though i had 8 by the time I was done. I went with ps4 because mainly they changed the controller and the way their dashboard worked. I did a lot of research before I bought so if you haven't bought a system yet do the research and look for neutral sites and you will see that ps4 is better in every way and now it has the online that was lacking for ahwile on ps3 good job sony and good luck to both systems because without competition then one company would not rise up.
I bought ps4 because I didin't like ps3. PS3 is worst Sony console ever.
I just got my PS3 the Christmas of 2012. I'm not getting a PS4 anytime soon, but I will eventually. I guess I'll always be one console generation behind- maybe that's a good thing.
I wouldn't touch a 360 again after going through 3 of them in under 2years which is ridiculous, and what did Microsoft do? nothing when thay did it was only an extra 12 months warranty, no wonder the XboxOne looks like a VHS.
JaxonH
Microsoft hasn't sold 5 million consoles thay've shipped to shops 5 million consoles, Sonys sold 7 million consoles.
Until the PS4's gaming library is substantial flushed out with great games I am more than happy to stick with my PS3. I still play my PS3 more than anything else in the house, plus I have Tales of Xillia 2 to look forward to at the end of the summer.
I can think of several reasons that the PS4 is outselling the Xbox One...and this ain't one of them
@Paranoimia Ditto. All my friends that own a PS3, have only bought one, and still have plenty of games they haven't played yet. One of them even has an original launch version with all the SD ports, etc. Same goes for me, one ps3, several years ago, still running fine, still playing unique IPs that look really good. Actually my PS3 gets a bit more of my time than my PS4. That will change, but I didn't have to get a PS4 at launch because I was feed-up with my PS3. This guys playing the media, manipulation role.
Oh I know why the Ps4 is doing better than the XBO, it's because.... chief marketing and strategy officer Yusuf Mehdi has **** for brains!!!
hes right- the xbox 360 is so powerful that it could already play games in 720 p- so there is definately no reason to upgrade- awesome
i hate xbox controllers. that is why i will never ever ever own one...
@cherrypoppa Language, please!
His logic is completely flawed. Baffling that this comes from a chief marketing executive.
“It's hard to really assess the gap in sales,” the executive stated. “They’re in many more markets right now than we are. They're in 40 plus markets, we're in 13.”
Except when you compare the 13 countries that both PS4 and XB1 have in common, the PS4 still leads in sales in those 13 countries. US and Europe are like 80% of the total marketshare, the rest is a drop in the bucket and that's especially true for the Xbox brand. He's delusional if he thinks they're suddenly going 3 million units in a matter of months here in the Benelux and other regions like Scandinavia and Japan.
With logic like that I doubt he even properly market researched his bold claim about X360 customers being more satisfied than PS3 customers. Not to mention, is it up to date? Satisfaction can change over time and the PS3 was very good in its later years, 2012, 2013. The graphical disparity in multiplatform games completely disappeared (or arguably even turned into PS3's advantage, looking at the graphics of most PS3 exclusives), the exclusives on PS3 were amazing and PS+ became amazing value. On the other hand, MS kinda dropped the ball on first-party support during X360's later years.
If anything it would be the PS3 owners who would have less of a reason to upgrade due to the still strong first-party support for the system in 2013 and it's still getting some high profitle Japenese games in 2014 and 2015 (Tales of Xillia 2, Tales of Zestiria, Kingdom Hearts 2.5 Remix, Persona 5). In fact I'm one of those, I'm still on PS3 and feel no urgency to upgrade so far.
And on top of that it makes no sense anyway. If PS3 owners were less satisfied then why would they be so happy to stick with the PlayStation brand? His whole story is sounding like far-fetched, made-up attempt to spin the facts.
Why not simply admit that they you introduced the XB1 in the wrong way and simply say that you feel confident about you're upcoming XB1 games and that you're dedicated to satisfy XB1's customers needs instead of being so arrogant and say "PS3 customers were less satisfied! We have the best games!" The Xbox One launch was a great success as well so there's no need for him to be so agressive and arrogant like that.
Imo, the X360 was a great system indeed, so was PS3. But his logic is just flawed imo.
"Sony is in more markets," is a fine answer. "More people are buying PS4's because they didn't like the PS3," is spaceman logic. Five million units is still a lot, there's really no need to make up excuses. This is a marathon, not a sprint.
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