Tag: Microsoft

It seems that the Xbox 360 console is doing pretty well in EMEA with 10 million consoles sold, I would just love to know how much of the 10 million units sold can be attributed to South Africa.

The official press release follows:

Johannesburg- Xbox 360 announced that it had achieved console sales to 10 million consumers across Europe, the Middle East and Africa in just four years. Reaching the landmark number has meant that Xbox 360 is the only console to achieve year-on-year growth across the region this year[1].

“Xbox 360 continues to pull ahead of the competition when it comes to delivering on a complete home entertainment experience,” said Martin Olausson, Director of Digital Media Research at Strategy Analytics. “By introducing innovative new services and content such as Natal, Xbox will likely attract a wider audience than its rivals and is in a great position to maximise sales in the next few years”.

2009 has been a pivotal year in Xbox’s journey from its gaming origins to now changing the way people consume and share entertainment content, interact with each other online and continue to play great games.

“Reinventing entertainment through play, watch, connect and share. This is the vision that we have for Xbox 360 and today that vision is the reality for 10 million Xbox owners. European consumers are very discerning and demand a connected entertainment experience. That’s why we focused on providing content that is right and relevant for them and entertainment beyond just gaming to movies, music and social networking. We have delivered on this promise and next week will bring real innovation into the living room through instant streaming high definition movies, connecting with friends on Facebook and Twitter and a personalised music channel. Together, this represents a real shift in the way people are entertained every day,” said Chris Lewis, vice president Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft Europe.

This reinvention of entertainment has already seen a shift in where the Xbox lives in the home, with the majority (60%) of Xbox’s now becoming integrated into the family living room. It has also caused a shift in Xbox’s customer base as now 35% of Xbox customers are women and 64% are over the age of 25[2]. The arrival of the much anticipated ‘Project Natal’ will create a new category of gaming and entertainment experiences through controller-free gaming that makes Xbox 360 more inclusive and relevant to an even wider audience.

[1] Xbox 360 remains the only console showing positive year-on-year growth in 2009 so far, both across EMEA as a whole and in each of the 5 main markets within the region (UK, FR, DE, ES, IT) – Microsoft estimates based on Gfk ChartTrack data

[2] April 2009 Microsoft Internal Research Study