The traditional color for Christmas stockings is red, but this past Christmas season, Microsoft headquarters may very well have had all their stockings changed to the hue of Xbox green, as recent findings by NPD Group seem to indicate that the Xbox 360 was the best selling next-gen console during the 2006 holiday shopping season.
According to NPD, the Microsoft sold 2 million Xbox 360s during the time period from the start of November up until December 25th. Nintendo’s Wii came in second with 1.8 million units sold, and third, the PS3, with a reported 750,000 PS3s in the hands of consumers.
The surge of Xbox 360 sales was most likely due in large part to the shortages of the Wii and PS3 game consoles during and after their launch dates in mid-November. Consumers who were disappointed in not finding one of these machines in time for Christmas may have seen the readily available 360 as a logical second choice.
As the shortage of Wii and PS3 systems continue into the new year, Microsoft can only hope that the shortcomings of their competitors’ machines will continue. With the arrival of two brand new next-gen gaming machines on the scene, no manufacturer can afford to lag behind in producing a sufficient number of systems. This recurring problem of supply shortages may finally prompt each company to ensure that future releases will not suffer from the same problem.
