PlayStation 4 Already More Popular Than Xbox One, Reuters Poll Shows

Sony's SNE next-generation game console, PlayStation 4, is proving to be more popular than Microsoft's MSFT Xbox One. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, 26 percent of consumers surveyed plan to purchase a PlayStation 4 this fall. Fifteen percent said that they planned to purchase an Xbox One. The survey (which consisted of 1,297 individuals) found that the "rift widens" among respondents who were below the age of 40. Among those consumers (408 individuals), 41 percent plan to buy PlayStation 4 versus 27 percent who plan to buy Microsoft's console. These results come after Sony announced that PlayStation 4 pre-orders have exceeded one million units worldwide. In the United States, PlayStation 4 software pre-orders are 55 percent higher than the software pre-orders for Xbox One. Related: China's Video Game Approval Could Be Worth Billions To Sony, Microsoft And Nintendo PlayStation 4 shipments are also expected to be higher than those for Microsoft's console. While pre-sale data and online polls do not necessarily dictate the industry's direction, it seems that Sony may have the upper hand -- if only for the holiday shopping season. PlayStation 2, Sony's second game machine, currently stands as the world's best-selling console with 157.68 million units sold over the last 13 years. PlayStation 2 went head-to-head with Nintendo's NTDOY GameCube and Microsoft's first console, the original Xbox. GameCube sold 21.74 million units, while Xbox sold 24.65 million units. Microsoft fared better during the following generation when Xbox 360 was released. Xbox 360 sold 78.62 million units -- less than one million fewer units than PlayStation 3, which sold 79.53 million units. Both devices were surpassed by Nintendo's first-generation Wii, which sold 100.22 million units. All three consoles are still available. Wii U, Nintendo's latest console, has only sold a few million units since it was released in November 2012. The console is not expected to present a significant sales threat to Xbox One or PlayStation 4. Disclosure: At the time of this writing, Louis Bedigian had no position in the equities mentioned in this report. Louis Bedigian is the Senior Tech Analyst and Features Writer of Benzinga. You can reach him at louis(at)benzingapro(dot)com. Follow him @LouisBedigianBZ