Unsurprisingly enough the Xbox One has bombed in Japan. Microsoft's third-generation home console managed to move 24,562 SKUs the first week out, but then things completely dropped off from there on, with the big black box managing to only shift 3,015 units the second week on sale.
According to Forbes, things continued to decline for Microsoft, as just last week the console only managed to move 1,314 SKUs in the land of the rising sun.
Forbes notes that the Xbox 360 launched to the tune of 60,000 in Japan, and the PS4 managed 300,000 when it launched in Japan.
For comparison purposes, the PS4 and Wii U moved a respective 8,939 and 8,396, according to Gematsu.
The numbers for the Xbox One aren't even abysmal... they're almost at the point of just not registering. Not only does it show that there's a stark lack of interest in the product, it shows that the drop-off rate in sales is a spectacular indication of just how much the Japanese gaming society don't particularly care for the Xbox One.
The image problem that the console suffered from last year seems to have carried over right into the launch in Japan. While many would argue that Japan has gone full mobile and is now only a soft market for console gaming, the reality is that certain games and products on consoles do sell quite well, with Gaming Bolt praising Bayonetta 2 for debuting in third-place for the Wii U in Japan, with nearly 40,000 units sold out of the gate. First and second place went to the Super Smash Bros. and Yokai Watch 2 titles, the former of which has sold nearly a million copies in Japan alone.
Essentially, the Xbox One's struggling in Japan isn't something that comes out of no where. Microsoft has always had a historically bad time trying to shift their units in the far east. The company also plans on rolling out their console in China, too, opting to move 100,000 units in the mainland this fall to see how well the console does.
However, going by the consumer polls, the Xbox One only scored 11% of interest from Chinese consumers. Some argued that the poll was slanted in favor of the PS4, or that PS4 fanboys took over, but the poll consistently seems to line-up with today's market trends, market sales and the industry standing between both consoles. In other words, the sales data seem to reflect what the polls are showing.
The bigger question then becomes: will Microsoft continue to put money, time and resources into the Xbox One over in Japan even though the system is off to a horrible start? Well, they already have some indies on the way and they launched with quite a bevy selection of games, so we'll see how far the support goes beyond the initial launch quarter.
Given how the first few weeks of sales usually determines how the direction of momentum goes for the console's sales expectancy in that territory, it's easy to see how Microsoft could be in a real pickle here.
(Main image courtesy of Game Revolution)
