Some console news
today as GristyMcFisty lets us know that Microsoft's Xbox
sales are up and the console is gaining market share in the United States and Europe. The Xbox is however still behind the Sony PlayStation 2:
 Xbox remains a distant second behind PS2. Through May, according
to data from NPDFunworld, the PS2 had a U.S. installed base of 17.7
million units. The console market has largely become a two-horse race for
share, with Nintendo's GameCube underperforming all expectations and
lagging behind the Xbox and PS2 in most markets.
Since the November 2001 launch of Xbox, Microsoft said
it has sold 9.4 million units worldwide, and by June 2004 it said it
expects that number to rise to between 14.5 million and 16 million units.
The total units sold during fiscal 2003 was 5.5
million.
Online gaming outlook
Xbox Live, Microsoft's online gaming service, finished the
year with about 500,000 subscribers, the company said, with expectations
it will reach 1 million by next summer.
In the past, weak Xbox sales have actually been good for
Microsoft's bottom line, since the company loses an amount believed to be
$75 or more on each Xbox it sells. |
Source: CNN.com
