January PS4 sales nearly double Xbox One in US

Sony has taken an impressive lead over the Xbox One across the pond.

Figures from NPD reveal the PS4 leads hardware sales in the US – a feat Sony says it has achieved despite "severely constrained" stock of the console.

Despite trailing to its rival, the Xbox One is still selling well ahead of its predecessor. Microsoft’s figures estimate the new console is outselling the 360 at a rate of 2.29 times faster.

Overall, the total spend on video games hardware and software declined by one per cent in January 2014 compared to the same month of the previous year.

However, that figure has been ‘normalised’ to account for the five week period last year when compared to this year’s four week January. Without this process, the figures are closer to a 21 per cent decline and a value of $664m versus $835m in 2013.

In terms of software, Microsoft says Xbox is still king.

The Xbox One and 360 accounted for 47 per cent of software sales last month, higher than Sony’s machines according to the platform holder’s report.

But software Top Ten for January showed PS4 editions of games outsold their Xbox One-based counterparts, excluding Call of Duty: Ghosts and Lego Marvel.