Xbox 360 European Sales 'Double', Says Microsoft

Officials from Microsoft have suggested that European sales of the Xbox 360 have “more than doubled” since the price of each of the console models was lowered last month. On March 14th, the Arcade and Elite models saw prices fall by £40 ($80) to £159.99 ($322) and £259.99 ($524). The Premium model was also reduced in price by £50 ($100) to £199.99 ($403). This put all three versions of the console at a price point below that of the PlayStation 3, with the Arcade model also costing less than the Wii. Microsoft has offered no sales figures to quantify the reported sales increase, but has suggested that the Xbox 360 is currently the number one next generation console in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) with 42 percent of the market in terms of life-to-date revenues. The Xbox 360 also has the highest software attach rate of any console in Europe, with 7.0 games being sold per console. According to Microsoft’s own figures, this compares to 3.8 for the PlayStation 3 and 3.5 for the Wii. However, with no regularly released independent sales data available in any of the major European countries, Microsoft’s figures are impossible to verify or compare with other existing figures for competing formats. “Xbox 360 is truly the next-generation console of choice among consumers, and today’s numbers are proof that we are delivering on our commitment to achieve critical mass in Europe,” said Chris Lewis, vice president of Microsoft Interactive Entertainment Business Europe.