Xbox 360 sales down year-on-year

Microsoft has revealed that it sold 10.3m Xbox 360 consoles in the year ending June 30th – down from the 11.2m it sold in the same period the year before.

Console unit sales were up in the quarter ending June, however. 1.5m were sold in the period compared to 1.2 in 2009. 10.3m were sold in the year, down from 11.2m in the year before. Lifetime sales have hit 41.7m units.

Note, though, the recent launch of the Xbox 360 S is likely to provide a significant boost in the current quarter and, if Microsoft’s plans come to fruition, for the rest of the year.

Looking at the Entertainment & Devices (which includes Microsoft’s Xbox operations) as a whole, the quarter actually brought a loss of $172m for EDD, though a profit of $679m was registered for the full year – up an incredible 529 per cent year-on-year. This was attributed in the main to decreased costs at the unit, most notably in manufacturing Xbox 360 consoles.

EDD revenue for the year hit $8.058bn – up by just $20m on the 12 months prior. Revenue for the quarter reached $1.6bn, up $300k on last year.

Microsoft’s overall numbers saw annual revenues of $62.5bn – up $4bn compared to 2009. Income increased by $4.2bn to $18.7bn. Net income for the quarter reached $4.52bn – a 48 per cent year-on-year increase. Strong sales of Windows 7 were the main driver of the numbers.

This quarter’s record revenue reflects the breadth of our offerings and our continued product momentum,” chief financial officer Peter Klein stated. The revenue growth, combined with our ongoing cost discipline, helped us achieve another quarter of margin expansion.”