Takashi Sensui, general manager at Microsoft Corporation’s Xbox Japan, has presented his formal resignation on Sunday, Valuewalk reports. Rumors say that his resignation is the result of several years of poor performances for the Xbox on the Japanese market, but Microsoft denies this – according to the official version, Sensui is leaving Xbox Japan to take on a position in the United States.
According to the official Microsoft announcement on the change, Takashi Sensui did not resign as a result of his poor performances as the general manager of Microsoft’s interactive entertainment business, but as a part of the reorganization of of the Xbox business at a global scale. This does not change the fact that since he joined Microsoft’s Japanese Xbox division in 2006 he failed to turn over the sales of the company on the local market, facing an increased competition from the two leading Asian consoles, Sony’s PlayStation and Nintendo’s Wii.
Microsoft’s latest gaming console, the Xbox One, failed to become a hit on the Japanese market, despite its strong performance in the US. While Sony has sold over 780,000 units of their PlayStation 4 between September 4th and November 23rd, Microsoft has only managed to sell a bit over 40,000 units of its Xbox One. The situation is completely different in the United States, though – this Black Friday Microsoft’s Xbox One console has sold more total units than any of its competitors. According to a study cited by Valuewalk, 53% of all gaming consoles soled in the stores of the United Stated during the Black Friday promotions were Xbox One, followed by PlayStation 4 with 31%, Xbox 360 with 9%, Nintendo Wii with 6% and PlayStation 3 with 1%. The author of the study, InfoScout, has gathered the information from a number of over 180,000 stores across the US, including major retailers like Target, Walmart or Best Buy.