Is the Xbox One S discontinued? The rumor mill is saying that Microsoft has stopped producing the budget-friendly version of the Xbox One X, but one source says that that’s not the case — not yet, anyway.
“I’ve seen lots of reports about the Xbox One being discontinued,” stated The Verge’s Senior Editor Tom Warren on Twitter. “Microsoft hasn’t discontinued the Xbox One S… yet. There is plenty of pandemic demand for Xbox One S and PS4, and stocks have been low for weeks now.”
I've seen lots of reports about the Xbox One being discontinued. Microsoft hasn't discontinued the Xbox One S… yet. There is plenty of pandemic demand for Xbox One S and PS4, and stocks have been low for weeks now. https://t.co/mNtymg0OFK
— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) July 10, 2020
Warren also refers to an earlier tweet of his which indicated that the Xbox One S stock was running low at multiple retailers. This stock shortage may have lead to the Xbox One S discontinued rumors, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Let’s start with retailers. Amazon listings seem to be one of the culprits for this rumor as several listings include “[Discontinued]” in their title. However, this only applies to a few of the available listings — other Xbox One S Amazon listings don’t have “[Discontinued]” in the title. Best Buy’s online stock of the consoles is sold out and GameStop only carries pre-owned and refurbished models.
On the other side of the coin, Wal-Mart still lists new Xbox One S consoles for sale. The Microsoft Store is also still selling the Xbox One S. That latter store is the most notable part — were the Xbox One S discontinued, there would probably be some kind of notification on Microsoft’s own store.
Most critically, there hasn’t been an announcement from Microsoft. Lest we forget, Microsoft officially announced the cancellation of the Xbox 360 back in mid-2016, 10 years after its initial launch. Microsoft would surely make an announcement if it had discontinued the Xbox One S, just as they had with the Xbox 360.
So why the rumors? There appears to be a shortage of consoles, likely caused by higher demand during the pandemic lockdown (and possibly manufacturing and logistics difficulties). With the upcoming Xbox Series X (and a possible Xbox Series S) launching later this year, it’s understandable that people would believe the Xbox One S has been discontinued. That said, it’s unlikely that Microsoft will cancel their flagship console before the sale of the next one.
