December 19, 2002
Xbox November Console
Sales Hit Record Highs for 2002
Strong Game Portfolio and Xbox
Live Launch Fuel Growth
REDMOND, Wash. — As Santa’s
elves hustle to pack his sleigh in preparation for next week’s delivery of
holiday loot, it’s clear that the Xbox™ video game system has topped the wish
lists of video game enthusiasts worldwide. According to NPD Group Inc. data (NPD
Funworld TRSTS November 2002), Xbox achieved its best month of the year for
console sales in November. Data released today by Microsoft Corp. confirms that
from Seattle to Singapore, Austin to Auckland and Detroit to Dublin, demand for
Xbox has reached a fever pitch this holiday, widening the gap between Xbox and
rival Nintendo GameCube while demonstrating that Xbox delivers a superior gaming
alternative to Sony PlayStation 2.
According to market research firm
NPD Group, a record number of Xbox systems flew off store shelves in November.
Fueled by the recent launch of Xbox Live™, a game portfolio boasting 200 titles
and a special holiday offering, sales for November nearly doubled the previous
month’s volume. November marked the seventh consecutive month in which Xbox
console sell-through outpaced that of Nintendo GameCube.
A distinct winner among shoppers has
been the Xbox Holiday Offer, a specially priced and packaged system complete
with the Xbox console, Xbox Controller S and two of the best Xbox-exclusive
games from Sega, “Sega GT 2002” and “Jet Set Radio Future.” In the first two
months of availability, the Xbox Holiday Offer outsold Nintendo’s GameCube/Mario
offering by 131 percent.*
Individual Xbox game titles also
have been selling at a breakneck pace this holiday season. In November, shoppers
snatched up more than 2.4 million Xbox games, making it the second-highest
software sales month since the platform was introduced. Overall, Xbox has sold
34 percent more games than Nintendo since either console was introduced. “Tom
Clancy’s Splinter Cell,” a wildly popular Xbox exclusive from developer Ubi Soft
Entertainment, tops the bestseller list, with nearly a quarter million units
sold worldwide in just the last two weeks of November.
“Sales figures confirm that
‘Splinter Cell’ on Xbox is at the top of every gamer’s wish list this holiday
season,” said Tony Kee, vice president of marketing for Ubi Soft Entertainment.
“There has never been a game that uses lighting, shadows and stealth better than
‘Splinter Cell,’ and the power of Xbox helps make that possible. You can see it
in magazines, newspapers and broadcast reports that the consensus is ‘Splinter
Cell’ is the best-looking and -playing game on the market, and it is only on
Xbox this holiday.”
Perhaps most telling is the dazzling
success of the Xbox Live service, which allows Xbox gamers in different
locations to play against each other using a broadband connection. Launched just
last month in the United States, the Xbox Live Starter Kits have exceeded sales
expectations, eclipsing by 86 percent the number of PlayStation 2 Network
Adapters Sony sold in their first month of availability. Titles such as
“MechAssault™,” “Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon” and “Unreal Championship” are proving
to be immensely popular with the Xbox Live crowd, with combined sales of more
than 300,000 units in the United States in November. These top three Xbox Live
titles attached at over 80 percent to the Xbox Live Starter Kit.
“All this data points to the fact
that Xbox is well on the way to being a market leader,” said Robbie Bach, chief
Xbox officer. “With solid support from leading developers, more than 300 games
in development, 200 games available for this holiday and many big titles planned
for 2003, it is not surprising that Xbox is at the top of wish lists on several
continents.”
Holiday highlights for Xbox from
around the world include the following:
Europe
• Sales of the Xbox holiday offering
have catapulted Xbox into the No. 2 spot across the continent. (Source:
ChartTrack & GfK)
• In the United Kingdom, the largest
video game market in Europe, Xbox is consistently outselling GameCube by more
than two to one this holiday. (Source: ChartTrack)
• The Xbox Live Consumer Beta and
Test Drive program have been a great success, and momentum continues to build
for the European retail launch, which is on track for March 14, 2003.
Australia
• The sales gap between Xbox and
Sony PlayStation 2 last week narrowed to only
4 percent (source: Inform) as
Christmas shoppers made Xbox the home entertainment gift of choice.
• Xbox weekly market share doubled
to 46 percent over the past eight weeks. In the last two weeks of November
alone, gift-givers Down Under grabbed more than 23,000 Xbox units. (Source:
Inform)
Asia
• Xbox launched in Hong Kong,
Singapore and Taiwan last month and is now available at more than 230 select
retail outlets throughout the region. Xbox will be available in Korea Dec. 23.
• At an Xbox launch event in
Singapore Nov. 21, more than 5,000 people lined up to buy Xbox systems before
the event stocks sold out. At a similar event the next day in Hong Kong,
shoppers cleaned out the initial stock in just three hours.
• New Xbox games are arriving in
Asia every week. Plans call for up to 50 new games from Microsoft and other
leading game publishers.
Japan
• Holiday sales are going
well with competitive holiday offers available to consumers throughout Japan.
• There are more than 75 titles
available for Xbox in Japan during this holiday season. New holiday titles
include “Shin Megami Tensei Nine,” “Panzer Dragoon™” and “O-TO-GI,” “Blinx™: The
Time Sweeper™” and “Kakuto Chojin™.”
• A consumer beta of Xbox Live is
successfully underway to 5,000 gamers. Xbox Live is set to launch Jan. 16, 2003,
with Sega’s “Phantasy Star Online Episode I and II” and other exciting launch
titles.
Mexico
• The first launch of a video game
platform in Mexico kicked off very successfully. Xbox officially launched in
October and is the next-generation console most widely available at Mexican
retail (718 outlets).
About Xbox
Xbox (
http://www.xbox.com/ ) is Microsoft’s
future-generation video game system that delivers the most powerful games
experiences ever. Xbox empowers game artists by giving them the technology to
fulfill their creative visions as never before, creating games that blur the
lines between fantasy and reality. Xbox is now available in North America,
Japan, Europe and Australia.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies
for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products
and services designed to empower people through great software — any time, any
place and on any device.
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* NPD Funworld TRSTS November 2002
Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox Live,
MechAssault, Blinx, The Time Sweeper and Kakuto Chojin are either registered
trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other
countries.
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products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
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