86% of Nintendo Wii U owners also have a Wii

Feb 26, 2015 15:55 GMT  ·  By

A new online study shows that around 90 percent of current-generation console owners also own a previous-generation device.

The new Nielsen report makes it pretty clear that the main driving force behind the two eighth-generation consoles' growth is the force of habit, but also shows signs of healthy growth.

The study's figures point out the fact that, although nine in ten Xbox One and PlayStation 4 owners also own at least one seventh-generation console, there are more people who made the blind jump to Microsoft's system, when compared to the percentage of people who chose to purchase the PS4 without having previously owned either a Wii, a PlayStation 3 or an Xbox 360 device.

Sony still has a very strong lead when it comes to hardware sales, with the PS4 registering over 18 million units sold all around the world, while Microsoft's console sits at around 11 million.

The figures would point to the conclusion that the core gaming audience is embracing the PS4, while new users tend to favor the Xbox One, but the difference in percentage is too small for this to be indicative of a trend.

The figures also show that 76 percent of Xbox One users also own an Xbox 360 device, as opposed to only 66 percent of PS4 owners also having the previous-generation console from Sony, which means that Microsoft's fans display more brand loyalty than those of Japanese corporation do.

Previous-generation console ownership among current-generation users
Previous-generation console ownership among current-generation users

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