And so it is, 2
weeks before the Free
Xbox Live Gold weekend, that Microsoft has come out with its flight suit on and announces that the Xbox 360
shortage is officially over. In a press release today, Microsoft has promised to "distribute two to three times
the number of Xbox 360 consoles to the retail channel weekly," which should satiate the demand for their
next-generation offering.In addition, Microsoft notes that the Xbox Live Marketplace "has reached more than 10 million downloads faster than iTunes did when it launched"--which seems like a big accomplishment, but let's put that in perspective. When the iTunes Music Store was launched in 2003, broadband availability was lower than now (there has been a lot of expansion in 3 years). On top of that, the music store was only available to people who owned Mac computers, which was then an even smaller niche than it is now. Even still, the Marketplace is indeed a huge victory for Microsoft and Microsoft's cash flow, and the end of the shortage should mark a spike in Marketplace purchases.
By our calculations, it has taken Microsoft exactly 119 days (almost 4 months) since the US 360 launch to rid itself of a shortage. Let us see how the Nintendo and Sony launches fare in comparison.
[Thanks, SuicideNinja]
