Xbox Marketing VP Says 10M 360s In First Year

Peter Moore, the VP for Xbox marketing, has publicly stated that the Xbox 360 will sell 10 million units by the end of the first year. From the article: "The advantage of launching first for Microsoft, though, is that it has the chance to establish itself as a prominent next-generation format without initial competition. 'The target of 10 million units gives tremendous momentum to a platform,' said Moore at the ELSPA event. The target is certainly an ambitious one, as the current lifetime to date total for Xbox consoles sales worldwide is only around 21 million after almost four years on sale."

Comments

Self-fulfilling Expectations

[TheoB]

I suspect this isn't just marketing promises: Microsoft has a fair deal of control over how many 360's are sold in the first year. If they've decided that a 10 million unit head-start on Sony's US launch is what they need to compete this generation, they can cut prices and advertise sufficiently to get 10 million consoles into homes.

Remember, this isn't a question of a market demanding a good at a certain price point: MS, just like Sony, is going to lose millions of dollars in their first year of giving away razors, one way or the other.