How is the Xbox 360 really doing?
WinInfo | at | by Mike
Microsoft this week announced that it has sold 11.6 million Xbox 360 video consoles worldwide to date, refuting--if very temporarily--that the Nintendo Wii, which has been on the market for a full year less than the 360, has already outsold Microsoft's offering. (The Wii has sold 11 million units so far.) Market researchers at NPD have some even better news about the 360, however: Gamers purchase far more game titles per console on the 360 than they do with the Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3) or Wii, meaning that the 360 market, in general, is far more lucrative and important than the market for the other consoles. Also, over 7 million Xbox 360 owners have joined Xbox Live (though Microsoft declines to offer figures that separate the free Xbox Live Silver accounts from paid Gold accounts), and Microsoft expects that figure to rise to 10 million by mid-2008. What this all means is murky. The Xbox 360 has not sold as well as Microsoft had predicted, and this year's $1 billion warranty scare hasn't exactly helped. It will be interesting to see if even Halo 3 is big enough to turn things around.