People Pre-Ordering The Xbox Series X May Have Made A Big Mistake

Microsoft's announcement that its next generation consoles would be called Xbox Series X and Series S got somewhat of ribbing--what if people confuse it with the current-gen Xbox One X and One S? Now, as the console preorders go live, there's at least some indication that their choice of naming scheme may have led to some mistaken purchases.

According to Amazon's "Movers & Shakers" chart in the video games category, sales of the Xbox One X (that's the console they released in 2017) surged by 431% yesterday. These kinds of percentage-based charts can be misleading, but that kind of sudden surge at least suggests that some consumers may be buying the system by mistake, intending to preorder the next-gen console.

On the other hand, there is no similar surge for Xbox One S on the charts. If product confusion were at issue it seems that may be happening too, as customers mistake the One S for the similarly named Series S. They're even the same color, albeit with the Xbox Series S including a black vent hole on its top.

However, it's worth noting that as of September 23--when the chart updated to include newer products--the Xbox Series X is now in the number-one slot. Xbox One consoles have fallen off completely, which could mean that the sudden increase in sales was from just before Xbox Series X preorders began. That doesn't rule out market confusion, but it is still speculation, so we can't make definitive conclusions.

Microsoft, for its part, is trying to simplify the whole idea of generations by emphasizing its consoles as simply Xbox, with the different series acting as model names like phones. That also appears to be a big reason for its Smart Delivery push, to simplify the end-user experience without a lot of futzing over different console configurations.

Meanwhile, the preorders for Xbox Series X and Series S received better messaging than the PlayStation 5, but the situation was still a mess. We're keeping an eye on the preorder situation and updating our Xbox Series X and Series S preorder guide as stock becomes available, so keep an eye on it if you're still looking to buy one. Or just catch up with everything we know about the Xbox Series X/S.