Microsoft has just announced that the Xbox 360 has become the first console this generation to sell 10 million units in the US. In addition to the 10 million now sold in the US, Microsoft has sold 9 million consoles in other parts of the world, making the total sales for the Xbox 360 19 million.
"This year will be the largest in the history of the video game industry, with Xbox 360 leading the charge in the U.S. and abroad," said Don Mattrick, senior vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business in the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft. "History has shown us that the first company to reach 10 million in console sales wins the generation battle. We are uniquely positioned to set a new benchmark for the industry."
No doubt the sales were fueled by GTA4, which also helped boost the number of LIVE users to 12 million worldwide, making it by far the most successful console-based online service. "Reaching an installed base of 10 million consoles in the U.S. is a significant achievement and an essential milestone on the road to market leadership," said Billy Pidgeon, research manager at IDC. "Perhaps more important is the Xbox 360 worldwide online base – 12 million Xbox LIVE gamers is the largest community in the connected console games sector, which represents the greatest growth opportunity in the console market and where Microsoft has been the leader for two generations."
If that weren’t enough, Microsoft also wanted to remind us that the 360 has the highest software attachment rate, and the largest number of games with an 80+ rating on Metacritic of all this gen’s consoles. Oh, and they still sell copies of Halo 3.
What I’d like to know is how many of the 10 million were repurchases after someone’s original 360 stopped working?
