Microsoft on Tuesday said it expects to sell as many as 3 million Xbox 360s in the first three months after its launch. Microsoft will be the first of the three major companies to launch a new console when the Xbox 360 hits store shelves on November 22. Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 3 and Nintendo’s Revolution each are expected sometime in 2006. However, it is important to note that the Xbox 360 launch, unlike other hardware launches in the past, is global, taking place across Japan, Europe, and North America.
Microsoft is aiming to sell 2.75 million to 3 million Xbox 360 units in the first 90 days after the launch date, Xbox Chief Financial Officer Bryan Lee told an investors’ conference in New York. The company set that target nearly two weeks after trying to play down industry expectations. At its latest earnings announcement, it warned that initial Xbox 360 sales might not be as high as some in the gaming industry have expected.
The figures released on Tuesday are “a good signal about the overall health of the business,” Microsoft’s Lee said in an interview ahead of a presentation at the Harris Nesbitt Media and Entertainment Conference. Lee declined to say how many consoles would be on retailers’ shelves on November 22 when the Xbox 360 launches, saying that Microsoft would have enough machines for a solid release and steady supply thereafter.
