Sony's PS4 continues to outsell Xbox One

REDMOND, Wash., April 18 (UPI) -- Sony continued to outpace rival Microsoft in March, with its gaming console PS4 outselling the Xbox One in the U.S. for the third straight month.

Microsoft announced that it had shipped five million consoles to to its retailer, whereas Sony sold seven million PS4s to customers. According to NPD, Microsoft sold 311,000 Xbox Ones in the U.S., while 370,000 people bought a PS4.

“PS4 and Xbox One continue to see success with cumulative sales of the two consoles through the first five months currently totaling more than double that of their predecessors,” NPD analyst Liam Callahan said in a statement yesterday. “Sony’s PS4 led hardware sales for the third month in a row.”

"Even more important to us is how much fun you are having on Xbox One," said chief marketing and strategy officer Yusuf Mehdi.

Mehdi added that users were spending an average of five hours a day on the console, collectively coming to one billion hours spent using the console.

Both brands relied on the release of two new, exclusive games to boost sales -- Titanfall for Microsoft, and inFamous Second Son for Sony. Microsoft, more than Sony, was hoping that the release of Titanfall would give it a much-needed boost to its popularity and sales.

While Titanfall has garnered a better response than inFamous Second Son, Microsoft hasn't seen a uptick in sales. Microsoft also needs to worry about Sony making their production line more efficient, thereby pushing out more consoles. PS4 is still hard to find in retail stores in many countries.

But, Microsoft can take consolation from Nintendo's sales in the U.S. -- the WiiU sold only 70,000 WiiU units in March.

[Microsoft XBox] [PC Mag] [Bloomberg]