Xbox 360 hits 10 million sold in U.S.

Microsoft said on Wednesday that its Xbox 360 has become the first next-generation video game console to hit 10 million units sold in the United States.

Further, said Aaron Greenberg, director of product management for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live, that milestone has historically been reached by the eventual best-seller of each previous console generation, a fact that Microsoft will certainly be using to bolster suggestions that the Xbox 360 will eventually prevail sales-wise over Nintendo's Wii and Sony's PlayStation 3.

Of course, Sony has been the winner of the two previous generations, with the original PlayStation and PlayStation 2 far outselling the competition.

In the U.S., according to NPD Group analyst Anita Frazier--as of the end of March, Microsoft's rivals, Nintendo, and Sony had sold 8.8 million Wiis and 4.1 million PlayStation 3's in the United States, respectively.

All told, Microsoft has sold 19 million Xboxes worldwide, Greenberg said.

In addition, he reported that globally, Microsoft's Xbox Live service has reached 12 million total users, more than doubling the 6 million it reported last July.

"Our goal was to hit 10 million (Xbox Live users) in a year's time," Greenberg said, "and we've doubled it in less time. The majority of Xbox owners on a global basis are connecting to Xbox Live."

Another milestone the Xbox recently reached, Greenberg said, was that with more than 1 million copies of Rockstar Games' monster hit, Grand Theft Auto IV, having already sold on Xbox 360, the console has now reached 16 different titles with 1 million sales or more in the U.S.

By comparison, he pointed out, that's twice the number of million-plus titles that have sold for the Wii in the U.S. The PlayStation 3 has had just two, he said.

While the 10 million total Xboxes sold in the United States is certainly notable, it also must be noted that the console had a full year's head start on its competition.

Greenberg acknowledged that that means it's hard to compare sales numbers in an apples-to-apples fashion, but added that he thinks the head start gives Microsoft advantages that Sony and Nintendo will never be able to catch up to.

"I don't think you can underestimate the benefit of the year head start," he said. "We have a larger library, a larger online community. There's benefits to that acceleration."

Additionally, because the Xbox has been on the market a year longer, Microsoft has been able to reduce the costs of production sooner than its rivals, Greenberg said.

"It's hard to play catch-up," he said.

More recently, Greenberg explained, the huge success of GTA IV has been a boon to the Xbox. He explained that Microsoft's initial data suggested that in the first week the game was on the market, fully 40 percent of Xboxes sold at retail were bought by people who also purchased GTA IV.

That certainly seems like good news for Microsoft and backs up suggestions by industry analysts who predicted that GTA IV would drive a significant number of sales of the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, the two consoles the game was released on.

On Thursday, NPD will release its April sales figures for the U.S. video game industry.

Note: On June 10, Geek Gestalt hits the highways for Road Trip 2008. I'll start in Orlando, Fla., and visit many of the South's most interesting destinations. Stay tuned, and be sure to keep up, both now and during the trip, with what I'm doing on Twitter.

[Spartan_458]

Well, if you remember correctly, both the PlayStation and PS2 had about a 1-year head start on the competition as well, so there can be some credibility to that fact. And even if the 360 doesn't win in console sales, it'll win in total revenue. Let's face it, the 360 is selling way more games than the Wii and PS3 combined.

[kylebuttermore]

it should be more like 5 million since the majority of 360 users have had to get a new one because of rrod!

[Penguinisto]

Err, y'all know that blatant channel-stuffing on Microsoft's part doesn't count, right? Also, the Wii started a year later than the xbox 360, yet it sits at 12.something million US sales.

[fredtheviking]

I am not really that impressed. XBOX360 is junk hardware, but it does have games (so I might get anyway). Given the debacle with it's hardware (having the largest faliure rate of any console in the history of video games), I don't think Microsoft has a lot to proud of. I think PS3 is far from dead and the WII has innovative console. It still be too early to declare a winner of this console war.

[Simplicius]

it is worth noting that, in spite of all the hype, Microsoft is still losing money on the Xbox. Those are expensive toys to develop

[oldmanangry]

I don't own a console and don't care for them, but is this supposed to be a news report or stenography for Microsoft? How can anyone mention the number of xbox360 sales without reporting the failure rates of the units? Pretty weak "reporting" if you ask me.

[YankeePoodle]

I love the Microsoft-hate Zombies, crawling uncomfortably because any thing positive about Microsoft is going to draw the wrath of this asinine crowd.

[JuggerNaut]

That's nothing to really brag about. Though revenue is great, profit is even greater and I think only Nintendo actually makes (direct) profit from each Wii sold; so selling games is a plus for Nintendo no matter how you slice it. But Microsoft and Sony are forced to rely on royalties made from game sales to profit (or break even)!

Nintendo is in the best position for this generation of console wars

[swiggins]

I have never had a problem with my 360, I use it every day, on the other hand, my launch 60GB ps3 is plagued with problems, as are thousands of others complaining on the official PS3 forums, check it out for yourself, SOny is fudging on their failure percentage and it WILL catch up to them. One of the reasons it's stayed buried for so long is that PS3 fanboys would rather chew and swallow glass than ever admit that they sent their console in for repairs.

[Riquez-001]

I don't think there will be a clear cut winner in the "Console War" this time round. Sure I can accept that xBox360 might be the most popular, but the other consoles will still enjoy a healthy life.
Unlike previous console wars, such as PS1 vs Saturn vs N64 where the competition was crushed into obscurity, now i think all 3 will have a place.

[DouglasBubbletrousers]

I just sent off my 360 in for the 3rd time yesterday for RROD. Granted, this unit lasted me 2yrs which is better than my launch unit (1 month) and 2nd one (about 3 months). Still, I have no desire whatsoever to get a PS3. Im perfectly happy with the 360, even if it does have hardware issues. At least its still under warranty and they replace for free. And I am one of those MS haters when it comes to the home computer, Im a Mac user.

[will2348]

i own a Sony ps3 and would have to agree it has its problems but alot of these problems aren't actually to do with the ps3 for example alot of problems with HDMI cables, games have been scripted wrong causing ps3 hardware to do goodness knows what and the reason behind it is the ps3 is the most complicated gaming console and xbox may have sold more but the it isn't over xbox has had a year start and is cheaper. Technically the only problem with the ps3 is price. All my mates have xbox 360s and they all think it's great. Get dem to play on a ps3 with a decent hdtv there soon change there mind and say that they always thought the ps3 is better they just cannot afford it and of course even if you can afford it hdmi cables, games, blu-ray doesn't all come cheap. The only problem is that the ps3 is expensive, not enough games and for most gaming companies the way to program ps3 games is just to complicated they don't know how far they can push the console. There ain't one game that pushes the ps3 right to it's limit. I can guarantee that within a year there will be more games on the ps3 and the ps3 will be cheaper which will mean most people have a ps3 and a wii and the good old xbox 360 will end up in the cupboard along with most peoples ps3. The ps3 cannot lose it will be the next best gaming console i mean sony are experts in this area. They are gonna smash microsoft so watch out!

[celticbrewer]

The Wii still leads in sales world-wide, but the PS3 exceeded Xbox 360 sales in the critical U.S. market during the first three months of the year, helped by an improved selection of games, a 20% price cut last fall and the lure of models with built-in Blu-ray DVD players. Sony has also continued beating Microsoft in console sales in Europe and Japan.

Xbox is old news. And how many of those 10M Xbox360 are still running? My friend is on his third due to hardware failures.

[strikepackagebravo]

It always amazes me to see how many people come running to trash the 360 when a positive 360 story comes out, and how many people come to defend the PS3 when a negative PS3 story drops.

Anyone who denies that PS3 fanboys are more aggressive and problematic, is just kidding themselves.

[chronoex]

Congratulations to Microsoft for finally beating Sony at it's own game. It's healthy competition like this that spurs innovation. Still, I have trouble seeing the Xbox 360 besting the Wii in global sales at any time. There's simply not enough universal interest in the console. It's still a bit too hardcore for the average living room, and it's bestselling titles reflect that pretty clearly, whereas the bestseller list for the Wii is a good mix of casual and hardcore titles.

[halamadrid]

I don't think that playing with the numbers helps M$. While M$ has managed to sell 19M units worldwide with over a year's head start, Sony has managed to sell 13M units worldwide in one year. Now, I'm not a math expert, but it seems like Sony is indeed selling PS3s at a faster rate worldwide. Consider also that sales in Europe, Australia, and Canada are more beneficial to Sony's bottom line b/c of the decline of the American Peso....err....dollar, and U.S. sales are really not that impressive. One additional point is that Sony also makes revenues off licensing fees tied to Blu-ray movie releases and not just games, so who's coming out on top in the end?

[shadymoin]

Is there a deadline or something? I don't understand why there is this fuss or desperation on Microsoft's part to declare the Xbox as being the winner or something. Its clear it has had a head start and the only reason why people are buying the xbox is simply due to the availability of games on it.

In comparison what the PS3 has gone through and is on the comeback is pretty impressive, what the wii has done is beyond belief! This is desperate marketing from the xbox side of things. The real test for the xbox is if it can maintain the consumers when the ps3 has as many titles available to it, if so then Microsoft can celebrate, but otherwise if there is that deadline we all need to know about now would be the time to tell us.