An email from Microsoft has suggested that a rapid increase in XBOX 360 sales over the festive period could result in a shortfall of the consoles in the next few months. The increase in console sales was predominantly down to the release of Microsoft motion based controller Kinect.
In fact December saw Microsoft shift 1.9 million XBOX 360 consoles, a record for the device that has enjoyed a long life and unprecedented following. The increase in sales meant Microsoft had to divert consoles earmarked for January and beyond out to stores leaving them with a shortfall for the beginning of 2011.
“In order to keep up with holiday demand in December for Xbox 360 and Kinect, Microsoft pulled units from its January and February production,” an email to the Seattle Post read.
Of course this could be a ploy to keep buyers keen; we don’t doubt the sales figures or the popularity but would genuinely hope they had the foresight to manufacture enough consoles to keep up with the increased demand caused by the recent Kinect launch.
The XBOX Kinect hit stores in November 2010 amassing an impressive 2.5 million units sold in the first 30 days with peaks of over 100,000 units being sold each day. Many of the units sold were bundled with consoles themselves which would have been a major contributor to the 1.9 million consoles sold.
Did you or anyone you know buy a XBOX 360 or Kinect in December? What do you make of the claims?
Via: Information Week
We bought a Kinect Xbox bundle in December and I can well belive MS are in short supply as the 250gb version was very hard to find in many stores, especially in places like Argos.
Almost everyone I have shown Kinect to have since went out and bought the bundle or will be buying one soon, so hopefully the shortages don't last long.
i updated my xbox 360 and now it dont read my games or movies what is goin on with it? it was workin fine till i updated it to that stupid kinect……. plz reaspond
There are people selling counterfeit Xbox and Kinect consoles, with the consoles fully modified and freed. I purchased a set for about $45 (I also purchased an original), and was REALLY surprised to find that these consoles work really well. The fake Kinect tracks just the tiniest bit slower (I was only able to tell because I was actually measuring), however the overall performance was surprisingly good (especially for something costing $45).
There are THOUSANDS of these consoles being sold on the streets of New York – so I'm wondering why Microsoft would try such a boneheaded move by restricting the number of genuine consoles. Throughout December 2010 and January 2011, people have consistently shown that they are willing to pay full price for this product. With the onslaught of all the new fake consoles (modified to do even more than the real ones), I highly doubt that a shortfall is going to have any impact at all.