Microsoft has given its take on why the Xbox One is being outsold by the PS4 with marketing boss Yusuf Mehdi claiming its partly because Xbox 360 owners like their consoles more than PS3 owners and so are less inclined to upgrade.
Speaking to GameSpot, Mehdi commented:
"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. We could point to any number of things."
It's unclear what metric Microsoft has used to come to that conclusion and it doesn't take account of the fact that many early PS4 buyers were Xbox gamers disgruntled with the company's strategy.
More reasonably, Mehdi also pointed to the fact that the PS4 is available in many more countries than the Xbox One at present. He said:
"It's hard to really assess the gap in sales. [Sony is] in many more markets right now than we are. They're in 40 pus markets, we're in 13."
The Xbox One will be released in a further 26 territories this September, including Sony's native Japan, though even Microsoft Japan president and CEO Yasuyuki Higuchi has admitted that the console is "geared to a Western lifestyle" and may struggle to gain traction in the country.
Microsoft originally intended to release the Xbox One in 21 countries last November but this was cut back to 13 in order to ensure Kinect compatibility in all regions which is somewhat ironic given that a Kinect-free system will now be available from June 9th.
In another recent interview, Mehdi claimed that the Xbox One has a "very strong, if not the strongest" games lineup for the Holidays this year.
