Microsoft Aims For 15 Million 360s By Next Year

Gamespot is carrying the news that Microsoft is aiming to sell 13 to 15 Million consoles by June of next year. The story shows good and bad news for the company; While they've already sold 5 Million units, the Home Entertainment division lost about $1.2 billion for the last year. From the article: "Will Microsoft make its goal in the face of not one, but two rival next-gen console launches this fall? That remains to be determined, but the console will have the advantage of being cheaper than the Sony PlayStation 3 and having a bigger game library than the Nintendo Wii. The upcoming 12 months will also see several exclusive 'system seller' titles be released for the 360, including Epic Games' Gears of War, which is tentatively due this holiday season." Kotaku points out that, to sweeten the pot, a new bundle pack may be in the offing for the system.

Isn't that par for the course?

[iainl]

I thought that the XBox division lose a billion dollars every year, and always have? I'm sure I remember reading that last year. They've just had to write off a load of R&D money for the 360, we know they aren't making any profit on the physical hardware, and the sales figures for the original XBox have totally nosedived, so it's hardly surprising.

Re:No problem

[Rayonic]

Shipped = Sold

Microsoft sells Xbox 360's to stores. Thus, they've sold every one they ship. Most companies cite this metric, since it's the most direct relevant measurement they can get their hands on. (As opposed to calling up the store chains, etc.)

Of course, fan-bots will say: "They shipped 5 million, but only sold 1 million!" That is a highly unlikely scenario, however. I mean, if you ran some national department store chain, and you had stacks of a product lying around, why would you order more? The only real danger of overstock is right when a product launches.

So, while there is a number lag between when MS ships a unit and when it arrives in the hands of a consumer, it is not a statistical majority. If MS stops releasing new "X million boxes shipped!" statements, then you'll know they're in trouble. Otherwise, if they later announce "7 million boxes shipped", then it's reasonably safe to assume that at least 5 million have been purchased by end users.

Re:Smaller library

[Anonymous Conrad]

Backwards compatibility for the Xbox360 has been extremely hit-and-miss -- Dubious at best, certainly over-hyped

Based on what? There's lots [xbox.com] compatibile including virtually all the AAA titles. Sure they're missing a few I'd like to play again (Beyond Good and Evil and Soul Calibur) but it's a pretty big list. And it's not like the new system's short of games, esp. if you count Live Arcade.

Re:No problem

[KDR_11k]

Most manufacturers of such expensive items (especially ones with such small profit margins, a few bucks per console go to the retailer IIRC) have to offer buying back unsold stock before larger retailers start stocking it. After all each unsold XBox 360 would eat the profits made from a hundred sold XBox 360s.

Re:Only 3 Million Sold After 7 Months

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh give it a fucking rest!

Every generation it's the same old. Fanboys trying to pass ship numbers off as sold. Straight from NPD the 360 has only sold 2 million as of this month in the US. And the 360 hasn't broken a million in Europe.

The 360 has sold right around 3.1 million worldwide after seven months.