The head of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s Xbox Japan business has resigned, but the firm denied that the resignation is related to several years of poor sales of gaming consoles, according to a report from the Times of India. Takashi Sensui tendered his formal resignation on Sunday as “interactive entertainment business general manager,” but he will continue in a position with the games segment at the U.S. main office, according to the company’s official statement.
Is resignation part of global reorganization?
Microsoft said that the resignation was not a reaction of poor sales of Xbox, and according to the company’s spokesman, it was the part of a global reorganization of the Xbox business.
Sensui became the head of Japan’s Xbox division in 2006, but failed to revive the sales of consoles in the face on increasing competition from Sony’s PlayStation and Nintendo’s Wii consoles.
The latest model, Microsoft Xbox One, failed to garner substantial sales in Japan, unlike its relatively strong performance in the United States. According to game fans, Xbox One fell flat due to its bad reputation after technical glitches in the previous version, as well as poor design and game archive. Sales for Xbox One came in at 40,387 units between September 4th launch and November 23, according to a report from game magazine Famitsu. Arch rival Sony PlayStation 4 recorded sales of 784,638 units since its launch in late February based on the survey.
Microsoft Xbox grabs top spot on Black Friday
However, ex-Japan, elsewhere Microsoft Xbox One is giving a close fight to Sony, and during Black Friday, the console outpaced Sony in total sales. The Xbox One garnered impressive sales at U.S. stores, according to a study from retail analytic firm InfoScout.
InfoScout posted on its blog that Xbox One totaled to 53% of all consoles sold in the stores on Black Friday, whereas PlayStation was second at 31%. In the third spot was Xbox 360 with 9%, followed by Nintendo Wii at 6% and PS3 at 1%.
Infoscout collected data from 180,000 participants who get incentives to send pictures of their receipts from Target, Walmart, Best Buy, RadioShack, GameStop and others.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Xbox One, as well as Sony PlayStation 4, are designed with hard core gamers in mind, and the companies are working hard to develop strategies to neutralize the impact of cheap smartphone downloads on the casual players.
