Xbox 360 only sold about 58% compared to original Xbox

We're not normally the types to get into the nitty gritty of sales figures and the like, but we have to admit we're kind of sickly addicted to following the sales trends of the Xbox 360 this season — especially since the only competition it has in the US is its lack of supply. Which might be why NPD is reporting that they've only sold about 326,000 consoles by the end of last month — a solid 230,000 consoles behind the 556,000 first-gen Xbox consoles sold in the same time frame. The crucial Japan numbers are in too — crucial because Japan is really the country they want to crack this time around — and they're, um, not so hot. Like only an estimated 28 - 40% of their allotment Xboxes were sold (Famitsu Xbox 360 editor Munetatsu Matsui attributed this to the postponement of DoA4). We're not making any judgments or anything, but Microsoft really needs to get these things on the shelves before we can know how successful this console's really gonna be.

[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

[Some guy @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

Guess the Japanese don't like things that suck.

[Auri Rahimzadeh @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

I love my 360. As a media hub it's incredible, and there are some good games (Condemned: Criminal Origins is SWEET, Call of Duty is beautiful, and Project Gotham 3 is amazing). But we really need more 360-only games. Everyone appears to be waiting for DOA4, but that's because it really shows off what the system can do. Of course, if you have a lot of media in your home, the 360 is a great system for accessing it. The HD upconversion of DVDs is by far the best I've seen - and I've seen a lot!

Waiting for more games... Gears of War will be awesome!

Best,

Auri Rahimzadeh
Author, Hacking the PSP (http://www.hackingpsp.com)
Author, Geek My Ride (http://geekmyride.net)
Co-Author, Hacking Digital Cameras

[Pip @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

Dreamcast 2.0

[Deluxe @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

Some guy, Ahahahaha. Nokia and the xBox are dead-locked for first in that category.

[Jon @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

yeah the 360 is pretty damn nice. picked mine up last week...and it's met all my expectations and even exceeded some. Although, some of the games leave a lot to be desired. Madden 06 is definitely under developed. For example, I got an overlay that was supposed to have stats for my place kicker in it the other night that had "TEST TEST TEST" in it instead. But PGR3 is ridiculously nice...cant wait for some cars to become available via download.

[Apoptosis @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

One word, unhackable.

[Marc @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

A next generation console with last generation optical drive is a big turn off for me and probably the technology obsessed Japanese.

You just know that in 6 months they'll be an xbox with HD-DVD for exactly the same price.

I'll be waiting for PS3 and more importantly Blue-Ray.

[A_B @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

"Microsoft really needs to get these things on the shelves before we can know how successful this console�s really gonna be."

That should be the main point of the article when talking about US sales numbers.

Alternatively, you can complain that MS has only been able to supply retailers with 58% of the units that they had with the original Xbox. Which is pretty bad regardless of the cause.

It's misleading to imply that, given equal numbers of units, the 360 has only sold 58% as much as the original Xbox. That's what the headline implies.

Indeed, one could rightly say that the original Xbox and the 360 both sold 100% of their available units in the United States (I assume that the original sold out, but I don't remember). You note allotment sales percentages for Japan, but omit that point of comparison for the US.

Further, it would be interesting to see a comparison of percentage of allotment sales of the original Xbox versus the 360. It would be the closest, "apples to apples" comparison available. That is, while in Japan "only an estimated 28 - 40% of their allotment Xboxes [360] were sold ", how does that compare to the original roll out? Is MS doing better or worse?

[tiremfej @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

360, is a great system. It's a great media hub. I truly enjoy it. Wait for the PS3, fall into Sony's hyperbole, I can't believe anyone honestly thinks that it's going to be better. Here sheepy, sheepy, sheepy....wait for Blu-Ray, I'm sure all of the movie studios are going to jump right into that and adbandon their DVD base. Oh wait Disney is involved...they supported DIVX as well....where did that get that format. Sony won't be successful with Blu-Ray. It's to much of a niche market. hence MS decision to go with standard DVD, and streaming HD. So anyone can play it or use it on any TV. Why have a more expensive disk player, if more than half won't use it?

[Ionizer @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

These stats are pointless because they sold out. It isn't like the demand is low, which is message they are trying to paint.

[d3 @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

Marc, the HD-DVD rumor was denied, as reported earlier on this site.

Thats the first positive review I've heard of the media capabilitites, the rest I heard were: lame, closed, proprietary, locked, etc.

Isn't it funny that all these "news" shows like the today show or whatever are running segments touting the 360 as the hot gift item for the season WEEKS AFTER it was SOLD OUT? Now all your doing is making parents feel like shit.

Microsoft should have sent the extra 230,000 units to the US.

[Rick @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

No stores have them in stock. Well that helps allieviate the temptation to buy one... even though the lack of Blu-Ray or HD-DVD make it a product to stay away from.

[Topmounter @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

XBOX360 = Woefully Uninspired IMHO.

[DrWho @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

Can you spell 'rushed to market' here?

[Jon @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

I would buy one if it's available; too bad it isn't. Supposely, they will have a new shipment this weekend; I called the local bestbuy, they said maybe but no detail at all. (These $#@%$ probably are holding it to sell on ebay themselves)

[Andrew @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

Clearly, at this point, the "low" 360 sales (in the US) is a supply issue.

Six months down the road that hurdle will have been cleared but the next hurdle is Blu-ray. Format wars aside, that's a serious amount of additional storage space, not to mention the "next-generation" image perception of Blu-ray.

I'm waiting for PS3, but I will commend MS on making such a difficult decision in sacrificing HD-DVD in order to get (at least) a six-month jump on competition.

[jg @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

yes this is completely a supply issue. you can't find these things anywhere and this is with microsoft supplying stores every week. the ps3 will be a nice system and it will be on par with the 360 but it will come out 6 months later. i love how the apple and/or sony fan boys are ready to hate on ms when clearly this has been a success so far.

[VAStateOfMind @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

Now, I normally don't acknowledge the pet trolls, but I just can't help myself. Aside from the utterly nonsensical and completely off-topic drivel that "PSX Rulzz" espouses, I *love* the telltale duplication of seemingly random vowels and consonants that bely his/her pimply, tween years. ("I know, I'll drop the f-bomb a couple times in my post -- THAT'LL make me sound hip AND older!")

[VAStateOfMind @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

Strike that last....the troll's post has already been eradicated!

[Jay @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH

Microshit sells it BELOW cost and it STILL doesn't sell. And this is supposed to be the Playstation killer? LOLOLOLLLLLLLLLLL The only thing it seems to have killed is itself and burned a few homes along the way!

Some people never learn (siiighh)

[David O'Connor @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

I thought I read that games on the PS3 wouldn't be on Blu-Ray because the read access time is too slow....Blu-Ray would only be for movies.

[joel @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

So for those of us holding 360s, who thinks the price will climb any on Ebay before Christmas?

[deodas @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

The game's industry needs to STOP of import old XBOX games to 360 and START develop GAMES FOR 360. And the freak MS needs to put more of that shit on sale. I guess that someone on MS (XBOX and 360 staff) doesn't have market sense. Maybe they are sending the console to sell on some store in Mars, 'cuz I can't find that shit on US.

Sony and PS SUX.

[pat @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

I can't wait for my Sony PS3DRM edition

Blue Ray Drive that does not adopt the fair use standards like HDDVD

Maybe a embedded rootkit (that would be cool)

And games they will have tons and tons of games like there other consoles, but like there other consoles out of those tons of games maybe 1% will be decent, Sony sure is good at churning out tons of crappy games, just visit your local video store.

They have to learn its quality not quantity that counts

And as far as Japan, the whole country is PSFanboys so that was to be expected.

sorry I will pass, I am all over the 360 once I can buy one.

[BEETROOT @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

Hey Jay, seems to be selling fine. I've been trying to buy one since launch and it sells out within 10 minutes at every store in the state.

[dmek @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

Pat, seriously??

I thought you out to be Playstation fan as well.

[bgdc @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

Maybe it's because the system isn't wowing people? 16 bit to 32 bit was a big jump. 32 to 128 bit was a huge jump. The Xbox 360 just doesn't seem that impressive. I played with one for a bit and walked away unimpressed.

Honestly, i'm more than happy to wait until the PS3 shows up and compare them side by side. and even if it's $400, so what. I paid $200 for an intellivsion in 1981-82. I paid $300 for my PSX in 95 and $300 for PS2 in October 2000 (in addition to reselling 10 of them). $400 for a PS3 25 years after I bought my first game system seems like a BARGAIN.

[Chu Chu @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

Jay I'm not sure if you are aware of this but you're a walking, talking cliche. You also have a permanent imprint of sony's nuts pressed into your chin. I hope whatever they are paying you to shill for them makes it all worth it.

[js @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

The reasons for lack of sales on the 360:

1. Microsoft wants units to sold out to gain hype and rush. Brilliant? No. It didn't work.

2. Consumers know that PS3 is coming around the corner which will have much better features, performance, and stability. In essence, early Xbox 360 adopters are beta testers. Consumers know that Microsoft = BSOD.

3. Sony Playstation has been around for quite awhile in the gaming arena, so I believe that the consumers are waiting for the iterations of the games they really want since the Playstation franchise began.

[Anthony @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

The American numbers don't tell the whole truth, obviously. Xbox 360 will sell well in the United States. But there are 2 important facts to consider here:

Once the PS3 is released, it will easily outsell the Xbox 360. This means that by Microsoft failing to provide adequate supplies in America, they are LOSING the market advantage gained by releasing their system early. The only chance Microsoft had of cutting into Sony's share was to roll their system out early and get the thing into as many homes as possible. That doesn't work when you plan on having only around a million consoles out for the holiday season.

The second point is that the Japanese numbers spell doom for Microsoft's intentions. Again, their goal was to topple the "Sony empire", and the horrific sales figures in Japan indicate that regardless of North American sales, Sony will undoubtedly remain king of the consoles.

I love my Xbox 360, but I'll concede it's more like an Xbox 1.5, and not really a true next-generation system. While some comments have commended Microsoft for "neglecting" next-gen components to get their system to the market faster, I commend Sony for taking the time to ensure their console truly represents a nest-generation offering.

And for the Blu-Ray haters, it will be the next digital media format - ask any analyst. But regardless of how Blu-Ray does in terms in movies, it offers 10x the space of an Xbox 360 DVD, which means: more content, and more specifically, more true-HD content.

[Virtuous @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

MS had bungled the 360 launch big time! As other posters have indicated this is a supply issue, not a demand problem. MS should air freight all of the unsold 360s sitting on Japanese store shelves to the US. This has really turned me off on the 360. Compared to the 360 the original Xbox launch was a runaway success. I'll buy a 360 after the PS/3 ships. I believe that the PS/3 will be roughly equal to the 360.

[Tan @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

The only reason they haven't sold more is because there are none to be sold. BUT the only reason for that is there are too many design flaws which could lead to lots of insurance claims. I think Softy is scrambling to find a way to patch the problem and put the rest on the shelf. This about it, this is a multi billion dollar organization putting out what amounts to a pretty simple PC condensed to a size of a video console. Not a huge challenge to get a few million produced if you can get one produced, not for them anyway. Its all a matter of being sure they have something that will work 3 hours without overheating. I would say if they can get it in stores in the next week with the issues fixed then it will be awesome, if not then they are SOL. I don't down the game play is great and the system rocks as a media center.

[Chu Chu @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

Releasing a blu-ray OR HD-DVD based system right now is the wrong decision to make. The world is not ready for a new format yet. For starters it adds a chunk of change to the cost of the system, secondly to the non-geek eye there is no difference between a regular DVD and a hi def DVD. Think of all those people out there who got talked into buying a HDTV set and then sit there watching SDTV feeds without even knowing any better. We all know a few of these people. You think they give a rats ass about blu-ray or hd-dvd?

[J to the LOW @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

#18 you're a douche.

"Microshit sells it BELOW cost and it STILL doesn't sell."

Go find me one at a local store...right now. Just go walk in and buy one. You can't because they're ALL sold out. Unless you live in Japan.

douche.

[Matt @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

In response to #2 "The HD upconversion of DVDs is by far the best I've seen - and I've seen a lot!"

Uh, the XBOX360 doesn't upconvert DVD's

[Matt @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

In response to #2 "The HD upconversion of DVDs is by far the best I've seen - and I've seen a lot!"

Uh, the XBOX360 doesn't upconvert DVD's

[Jolly*Jester @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

I have to say I was an X-Box fan boy but MS has really dropped the ball on the 360. Whats the deal with so little consoles being available at launch???? Not one of these games that are out look next-gen and some of them are just sad ports of older games. CoD2 looks better in high def but game play is so much better on PC, and dont get me started on Madden. I cancelled my order and plan on waiting to see if MS gets its act together and turns out quality games. Until than I will play my PC that has better games and just as good graphics.

[Reality Check @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

People aren't understanding things here. The fact that the Xbox 360 is sold out says nothing about whether or not the release was successful. If supply was much lower than anticipated, then even if all available units sold out, the launch was still NOT a success. Selling only 58% of the original xbox numbers is very bad, as is the fact that MS didn't meet it's numbers for the # of units it expected to sell in the US before the end of the year.

[Big D @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

Um...what about the fact that NEITHER of the "big two" next-gens offers an innovative gameplay experience? It's a sad reflection on our culture that I'm in the minority in thinking this, but I have NO interest in playing Call of Duty ten-jillion, or the trillions of other repetitive first-person garbage-fests that are sure to be released for 360 and PS3, REGARDLESS of their technical aptitude (seriously, who here can honestly say that HD is more important than pure tactile gaming satisfaction, such as offered in classic games like Mario 3 and Link to the Past?). Better graphics mean next-to-nothing.

I guess you all see where I'm going with this: bring on the Revolution. If I want a media center, I can get one without having to pay extra for support for games that I'd never want to play. I want my gaming machine to PLAY GOOD GAMES...and despite the scanty information currently available about its lineup, I trust Nintendo with that task far more than MS or Sony. The last thing I cared about on PS2 was Katamari, and I've never been impressed with an Xbox game.

I am tickled pink, however, to see everybody's faux-expertise on multi-national corporate marketing strategies. As if MS doesn't have a fleet of MBAs who considered all of your little nuggets of business acumen months before 360 was even mocked up.

[kuroshi @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

Sales in europe and america a limited by production not demand. Had they been able to keep up with demand, those two areas would have exceeded the original xbox. The japanese figures are hampered by the lack of games. DOA, frame city killer, Blue dragon, all delayed. The japanes launch titles are substantially smaller than the US, and if you remove the titles that are geared to the american market it is almost none. Famitsu also reported of customers wanting to move thier reserves back until the arrival of certain games (DOA). People play games not consoles, and a console without games is useless.

[JV @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

I don't really need a new console right now. I'm happy with my Playstation 2.

[Sean D. @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

I'm still happily plugging through the 60+ Dreamcast titles I've accumulated over the years. I'm hoping to get a PS2 for christmas this year and finally own a copy of the Katamaris and Shadow of the Colossus. I'll wait 4-5 years before shelling out the money for a PS3, 360, or Revolution.

[in no way a MSFT fanboy @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

Just chiming in with the others that this article is mis-written.

The low 360 sales is a supply issue, not an "Xbox 360 only sold 58% compared to original Xbox" issue.

Is this just more MSFT bashing, or poor writing?

[jack @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

Its laughable for anyone to call the 360 launch a success. Anyone with less than 10hrs of business school would know that the term "soldout" is only meaningfull if you sell out profitably. If you need 1 million units sold to be profitable and you only "sellout" 50,000 trust me, that is far from successful.

I love microsoft but they dropped the ball here. This whole thing can go terribly wrong if they dont rein it in soon. However, knowing microsoft they may still turn this around. But to kid yourself into thinking this launch was successful is comical. You dont gain marketshare by failing to supply a hot product in the biggest buying season there is. Remember technology gets old fast, you better strike while the iron is hot or before you know it your hot product will become the uncool gadget to have.

[The Affable American @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

#33 Big D: "As if MS doesn't have a fleet of MBAs who considered all of your little nuggets of business acumen months before 360 was even mocked up."

Thank you, sir. But then... we're on the internets, yeah? :)

MS's business and marketing gurus have probably spent a little time planning this out, and maybe they even came up with a couple contingency plans and back-up strategies. For example, Halo 3 will ostensibly coincide with the release of the PS3. More games are coming, and perhaps MS is trying to draw out the hype and rampant consumerism across several "epochs": 1) Release 360 to much fanfare, 2) Release Awesome Game X to much fanfare, ... n) Release Awesome Game X+n to much fanfare. Maybe their research suggested that releasing more games than this or different games than this at this particular time of the year would have, *overall*, reduced the hype some percentage. Or, maybe they got screwed over by some of the delays of the big titles and felt it was still the best move to go ahead with the scheduled launch.

[Lee88 @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

#39>> 'Anyone with less than 10hrs of business school would know that the term "soldout" is only meaningfull if you sell out profitably. If you need 1 million units sold to be profitable and you only "sellout" 50,000 trust me, that is far from successful.'

They may not have covered this in the first 10 hours of b-school, but new game consoles have always been sold (by the manufacturer) at a loss. Console makers sell the hardware below cost of goods and make profit on the game software, whether internally developed or externally published with license fees to the console maker. Some companies (notably Nintendo) turn a profit on the hardware sold in the later years of a console's life, as the component costs decrease. Others (Sony & MSFT) continue selling at a smaller loss or near breakeven in later years as they discount the list price of the console.

[Kevin @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

I am waiting on the surprise discontinuation of the Xbox system here in a year or two. They really dropped the ball big time, but then again, they do make the operating system I work on right now so it isn't surprising.

So when is the first service pack for the 360 comming out :p

[Jeff @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

"Is this just more MSFT bashing, or poor writing?"

Neither. The thing some of you don't seem to realize is that a shortage is only a good thing if it's successful at generating hype. The problem is, if a system's unavailable for long enough, that hype goes away.

Every manufacturer works really hard to build up excitement prior to launch. Then that excitement comes out in one big, giant collective orgasm of buying on launch day and soon after. If all goes well, those early adopters carry that excitement over and convince others to buy into the system. Word of mouth is still the best advertising and always will be, because when friends advertise to each other, it's always coming from a trusted source.

But when you have an extended shortage, that excitement turns to disappointment and eventually that disappointment turns to apathy. Honestly, this is the first home console since the *Saturn* that I haven't bought at launch, and now that I've seen the issues with it (the biggest of which is just that the games don't look much better than what I already have), I am not really interested anymore either. At least not at these prices. (I'll probably still pick one up eventually, when the price drops.)

And I'm one of those guys that's normally evangelizing my purchases to everybody else. So, MS missed the boat with me and a lot of other guys like me. That's the problem when you're talking these kinds of sales numbers, whether it's because of supply issues or not. It *will* continue to affect the long-term sales numbers of the console, even once the supply problems are fixed.

At best, the launch was botched, and MS will need to overcome it. They can do it, but it doesn't make things any easier. And it's not the way you want to position yourself; you don't want to *overcome* a bad launch, you want to use your launch as a springboard to gaining market share. A product launch should be a positive, not a negative. This launch was definitely a drag on the system's prospects.

[Miles @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

There's nothing too special about the 360. All the 360 has to offer is better graphics. I'd rather spend the $399 on an Nvidia Geforce 7800 GT for my computer. THAT would give me better graphics.

And I'd have to disagree that there aren't many good games for the PS2. Katamari Damacy alone could very well be the greatest game of all time. Then you have games like Kingdom Hearts, All of the Final Fantasy games, the Jak, Ratchet, and Sly series's... there are a lot of good games, it's only a matter of finding them.

[hydrogen_wv @ Dec 19th 2005 1:00AM]

This amuses me... "As a media hub it's incredible, and there are some good games"

It's a console.. it should be the other way around.. Games should be great, as a media hub it should be good.

And #44... as far as I know, Nintendo hasn't sold any console at a loss.... The first I really heard of it was Microsoft and the Xbox.

I've been trying to push this point many times on here... You all are arguing about rather Sony of Microsoft will win the console war, but are they really winning if they are selling at a loss? Nintendo is the only one who will be profitting per console. The other guys are hoping for software sales, service sales (i.e. Xbox Live), etc...

I wish Nintendo would take advantage of the fact they profit per console. They should make an Online service (like Xbox Live), but not charge for it's use. I'd gladly pay $200 as opposed to $150 for a Revolution with free online play, the profits from the console sales would pay to run the service, and, with hte recent onslaught of online gaming (people love xbox live), this could potentially boost revolution sales (maybe by up to 33%?).