Black Friday is meant to mark the start of the holiday shopping season. Sure, plenty of people start buying presents before then to take the burden off of their bank accounts at the end of the year, but with so many great deals on offer during Black Friday, it makes sense that many consumers use it for the bulk of their holiday shopping. But beyond the mall stampedes, all those purchases can give some insight into how the different consoles are faring against each other.
One marketing study found that PlayStation came out ahead by comfortable margins among both millennials (ages 18-35) and middle-aged consumers (36-55).
Among millennials, InfoScout says PlayStation took 7 percent of the market directly from Xbox. Microsoft’s consoles normally accounted for 39 percent of buys on regular days, but only 32 percent on Black Friday, says InfoScout. That’s compared to PlayStation, which stood at 40 percent on ordinary shopping days, but 48 percent on retailing’s biggest holiday.
With bundles like the Uncharted PS4 bundle selling so well at Best Buy, it’s not particularly surprising that Sony’s console came out on top. However, at Target.com, apparently the Wii U was the top-selling item. I wonder how that compared to sales in the stores themselves; the NPD numbers will be rather intriguing this month – Black Friday always shakes things up, and it will be interesting to see who the overall winners are when all the numbers are tallied. Plus, with all the excellent sales on digital stores, I wonder how the Super Data info will balance out that picture. Could PlayStation be the overall winner, or does Xbox come out ahead when digital and retail figures are combined?
Last Updated: November 30, 2015
miaau
November 30, 2015 at 11:07
Do these ages have any real meaning?
AND I AM NOT MIDDLE AGED. Also, did the real middle aged people buy the console for themselves OR for the family?
Darren Peach
November 30, 2015 at 14:40
I bought the console for myself. But, I bought it two years ago and It was not on a black Friday.
Alien Emperor Trevor
November 30, 2015 at 11:11
Did anyone actually find any real Black Friday deals in ZA? The brief browsing around I did revealed nothing particularly special about it. Any specials were basically the same specials you’d get on any other day of the week.
Hammersteyn
November 30, 2015 at 11:14
Saw a video from Checkers in PE. A lot of fat people pushed the stores sliding glass doors off the rails to get in. So maybe they had specials?
Captain JJ never changes
November 30, 2015 at 12:29
Yea. Cops had to be dispatched to a few of the Checkers stores.
WitWolfy
November 30, 2015 at 13:54
Because getting a 4 pack Coke for R50 is a steal…
Hammersteyn
November 30, 2015 at 14:52
*shakes head
miaau
November 30, 2015 at 11:15
I know on foods and stuff people got some very, very good specials.. But they queued for it. I will not do that.
My wife bought loads of material overseas, on black friday specials, for a fraction of the normal price (she makes a lot of clothes, so keeps up to date with prices). But the customs may or may not push the price a lot higher, typically they do not.
RinceThis
November 30, 2015 at 11:19
Well OvG watched some big mummas fight over discounted coke?
HvR
November 30, 2015 at 11:29
Sadly TakeAlot didn’t match their Black Friday Specials Week like last year, got lots of Lego and Nerf guns for 40% to 60% off on Flash Toy Sale the week before.
They had few console bundles priced in the R5000 to R5800 which is a decent special.
Think the best gaming special was form the HiFiCorp Ps4 bundle for R4600; but their site couldn’t handle the traffic.
Mark Treloar
November 30, 2015 at 12:25
BT games had Xbox One for R3999 + 2 games
WitWolfy
November 30, 2015 at 13:55
DAMN!
HvR
November 30, 2015 at 11:39
You mean you didn’t see Dion Wired Black Online Friday BIGGEST sale ever.
A PS4 bundled with DRIVECLUB and SS ULTIMATE PARTY for ONLY R6500!!!!!!!
Captain JJ never changes
November 30, 2015 at 12:47
I once went out to buy a new MS desktop set.
It was R800 at Dion Wired.
Paid R450 for it just a few stores down at Computer Mania.
Cammybuu
November 30, 2015 at 12:09
PS4 with 2 games and 2 controllers was R4500 from HiFi online… Where can i get that prices anyday of the week?
oVg
November 30, 2015 at 12:18
There were major punch ups at Checkers. People were fighting over R10 coke. They saved R6 but had to stand in line for 40minutes.
Darren Peach
November 30, 2015 at 14:43
I think it’s still early days in South Africa. We still live in a let’s rip off our neigbour mentality. Maybe after a year or two, retailers will actually embrace it properly and give solid discounts. Watching CNN, Some retailers over there where selling things like televisions at a 75% discount.
Greylingad[CNFRMD]
November 30, 2015 at 11:26
Nintendo sold consoles? and 30% of that!? Well done!
Francois Knoetze
November 30, 2015 at 11:44
The only Black Friday I had witnessed was when I wanted to buy a pair of Lemons and Shiitake mushrooms at Pick and Pay to make home made dim sum. Had to climb over peoples trolleys bec they were too selfish to make a gap for those that want to walk in between. Every till had an isle full of trolleys stretching through the back. Bloody savages…
oVg
November 30, 2015 at 12:16
Im not quite sure about that header pic… something seems amiss.
WitWolfy
November 30, 2015 at 13:59
LOL
oVg
November 30, 2015 at 12:20
You know its bad for Microsoft when they totally dominated Black Friday last year to be over shadowed by a Japanese console on American soil a year later.
Captain JJ never changes
November 30, 2015 at 12:28
I hate this Black Friday crap.
WitWolfy
November 30, 2015 at 13:57
If I was American I’d love it. But here in SA its like.. R2 off here and R20 off there.. Nothing to brag about, not really.
Captain JJ never changes
November 30, 2015 at 15:45
Exactly. And in a third world country like this….people don’t just push each other around. They go into full on fights over R5.