Once viewed as a gaming industry noob, American software titan Microsoft Corp. has become something of an old hand when it comes to beating its corporate chest in the direction of market rivals Sony and Nintendo. It therefore comes as no surprise to see the Redmond-based company once again lauding the Xbox 360 console against its PlayStation 3 and Wii competitors.
Microsoft passes 10 million sales in the United States. Image: drdemento/Flickr.
According to Microsoft it has now surpassed 10 million users in the United States, making it the first home-based gaming platform to do so this generation.
Commenting about the achievement, the head of Microsoft’s gaming division, Don Mattrick offered that history shows “the first company to reach 10 million in console sales wins the generation battle.” Mattrick also believes the Xbox 360’s traction and performance has perfectly positioned Microsoft “to set a new benchmark for the industry.”
Videogame Web site GameSpot points out that Microsoft is seemingly rather fond of the ‘10 million’ mark when it comes to blowing its own trumpet, noting that the software company similarly pummelled its pectorals after passing 10 million worldwide sales at the beginning of 2007, amassing 10 million Xbox Live members, and also delivering 10 million pieces of downloaded content from the Xbox Live Marketplace.
With an installed user base of 10 million in the United States, worldwide unit sales of the Xbox 360 now stand at 19 million, which, while larger than its main industry rival the PlayStation 3, is around 5 million units short of the Nintendo Wii’s 24 million sales.
US market figures recorded to the end of March by the number crunchers at NPD Group show that the Nintendo Wii currently stands at 8.8 million unit sales, while the PlayStation 3 has managed to sell only 4.1 million units throughout the region since launch.
However, it is worth noting that both the PlayStation 3 and Wii launched at retail a full year after Microsoft’s home console.
simon lomaxMay 15th, 2008 - 12:09:46
i don't see it. unless microsoft get their act together an put a blu-ray drive into that box of theirs.Or add a BUY option to their download movie service. We want hd movies and if they want their box to be the only one in peoples living room they're going to do it.
Report this comment