News
360 sales double after price crash
Christopher Dring Apr 17 2008, 9:40am
Comments (5)
'European leadership position strengthened,' says Microsoft
Xbox 360 sales have seen a huge leap following last month’s price drop in Europe, according to Microsoft.
The platform holder lowered the price of their Arcade, Pro and Elite consoles to £159.99, £199.99 and £259.99 respectively, and the firm hopes upcoming titles GTA IV, Lego Indiana Jones, Rock Band and Ninja Gaiden 2 will continue the momentum.
“Xbox 360 is truly the next-generation console of choice among consumers, and today’s numbers are proof that we are delivering on our commitment to achieve critical mass in Europe,” said Microsoft Europe VP Chris Lewis.
“The highly competitive ERP, coupled with entertainment content that’s appealing to everyone in the home, makes Xbox 360 the ultimate high-definition entertainment choice, and it’s clear that we’re already seeing this resonate with consumers.”
According to Microsoft, the Xbox 360 is the number one next-gen console in EMEA, with 42 per cent of the market in terms of life-to-date revenue. The Xbox 360 also boasts the highest software attach rate in Europe, with an average of seven games bought per console compared to just 3.8 for PS3 and 3.5 for Wii.
Comments
“Sounds good on paper”
Posted: Apr 17, 10:04am
As a small publisher, I'd be more interested to know where this sales spike has come by country rather than by EMEA as a whole.
I am fairly sure that this jump has largely been driven by sales in the UK. France and Germany are doing okay on 360, but looking elsewhere, the picture is not so rosy. A quick glance at recent GFK top 10s in Spain and Italy tells its own story - Nintendo and Sony are dominating.
“Re: Sounds good on paper”
Posted by: intereseted... - Apr 17, 10:25am
Typical PR nonsense
I think word spike is used to good effect - its goes up sharply, and funnily enough, down again. Outside of the UK - whilst giving its massive EU marketshare fair recognition - 360 just isn't interesting from a smaller publishers point of view. What's more, Sony is giving smaller publishers/developers far more chance and interest to develop for its current consoles than Microsoft.
If Microsoft make it hard to get a foot in the 360 door, developers simply won't bother to try, consumers will have limited software choice, end of story.
Amazing (and frustrating) that after so many successful and turbulent years, the console makers can still fall at the first hurdle.
“Sounds good on paper”
Posted by: tomoko - Apr 17, 11:22am
This release simply is not true. Both Wii ( 3 to 1) and PS3 (2 to 1) are consistently outselling XB 360 in Europe . XB 360 is dead in mainland Europe. Also the tie ratios are incorrect Wii is 3.6 to 1, PS3 4.3 to 1 and XB 4.0. Ask Gfk or Chart track. How can MS they put this out?
Tomo
“Re: Sounds good on paper”
Posted by: matty - Apr 17, 1:50pm
Tomo, can you post a link for this data?
Cheers
“Re: Sounds good on paper”
Posted by: Retailer - Apr 17, 4:56pm
I think you'll find your wrong Tomoko. It is Charttrack that released the above figures that show the 360's attach rate being far in excess of the other two consoles. GfK's are also very similar. It sounds like you've been fed facts from the fanboy school of Bulls*** mate.
The key thing to bear in mind with attached rates is that it essentially means that when looking at how well a game is likely to perform on any given console. It's a far more important indicator than install base.