According to Xbox 360 hype man Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb, Microsoft isn't expecting to "win" December's hardware sales battle, as depicted in the NPD's monthly report (to be released later today). "I found out we ran out of consoles at the end of the month," Hryb tweeted, with a follow-up that added, "Jan/Feb supply is tight as well."
That said, he's anticipating "likely amazing YOY [year-over-year] growth numbers for Xbox." In non-business speak, that means he's expecting last month's Xbox 360 hardware sales to have surpassed the figure recorded in December 2009. While that would mean more than 1.31 million Xboxes were sold in the final month of 2010, if Hryb's prediction is correct, it would also mark the second year in a row that the Xbox was bested by Sony's PlayStation 3 in one of the year's most important sales months.
Either way, coupled with the many millions of Kinect units sold last year, Microsoft likely enjoyed its holiday -- though anyone who got a Kinect without an Xbox 360 was probably feeling scrooged.
Reader Comments (65)
Posted: Jan 13th 2011 11:16AM lunaticox said
So is this good news or bad news? I'm confused. And also, do we have the sales numbers for December for the PS3 or Wii yet? I mean how do we know the PS3 surpassed the X360 for December yet?
Posted: Jan 13th 2011 11:21AM Vidikron said
@lunaticox
They don't know, it's just a prediction at this point. It's still basically good news either way. It's just unfortunate that they failed to have adequate stock. You would have thought they would have prepared better given that it happen the previous year too.
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They don't know, it's just a prediction at this point. It's still basically good news either way. It's just unfortunate that they failed to have adequate stock. You would have thought they would have prepared better given that it happen the previous year too.
Posted: Jan 13th 2011 11:22AM MyAbsolution said
@lunaticox
Yeah im not sure why he said that.
The PS3 probably only managed 1.3 million itself.
Reply
Yeah im not sure why he said that.
The PS3 probably only managed 1.3 million itself.
Posted: Jan 13th 2011 4:39PM Ordeith said
@lunaticox
The Wii likely outsold the 360 and this was pre emptive damage control against that.
All indications are that the PS3 sold very poorly in NA for December and even a supply constrained 360 should have been able to oursell it. So I have no idea why this statement is in the "story" at all:
" it would also mark the second year in a row that the Xbox was bested by Sony's PlayStation 3 in one of the year's most important sales months."
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The Wii likely outsold the 360 and this was pre emptive damage control against that.
All indications are that the PS3 sold very poorly in NA for December and even a supply constrained 360 should have been able to oursell it. So I have no idea why this statement is in the "story" at all:
" it would also mark the second year in a row that the Xbox was bested by Sony's PlayStation 3 in one of the year's most important sales months."
Posted: Jan 13th 2011 11:18AM Uncle Jesse said
Well, they were selling them for 130 bucks here at the end of the month.
Posted: Jan 13th 2011 11:18AM Magetf said
Bogus, every store store's electronics department that I've gone into have had 360's on shelves.
Posted: Jan 13th 2011 11:35AM baby sea tuna said
@Vidikron
Anecdotally, I just saw a standalone Kinect on Sunday for only the second time since launch. And they only had one of them.
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Anecdotally, I just saw a standalone Kinect on Sunday for only the second time since launch. And they only had one of them.
Posted: Jan 13th 2011 12:40PM mmmfishtacos said
@Magetf I can get you what ever you need here. I find them all over the place. Also I was in fl and Ok this year and was able to find ample supplies in both areas. Why lie? Maybe parts of the US was sold out, but not all.
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Posted: Jan 13th 2011 1:15PM spin cycle said
@Magetf Local stores have big piles of 360s and big piles of standalone Kinects. And when I went to Georgia (other side of the country for me) for Xmas, they had big piles of standalone Kinetics there too.
Same as when Tretton was saying this about PS3, I'm not saying MS didn't run out of 360s, but the retail channel sure didn't.
Reply
Same as when Tretton was saying this about PS3, I'm not saying MS didn't run out of 360s, but the retail channel sure didn't.
Posted: Jan 13th 2011 1:47PM PlatinumSkeet said
@Magetf
This happens the same time every year for some reason. Xbox 360's will be dry for Jan-Feb and supply will finally catch up with demand in March
Reply
This happens the same time every year for some reason. Xbox 360's will be dry for Jan-Feb and supply will finally catch up with demand in March
Posted: Jan 13th 2011 1:51PM pickupdoctor said
@spin cycle
We must keep in Mind that they sell out more on East, West and South Coasts because about 200 million people live there.
Now sales in the middle of the country are behind because incomes are lower and less people live there.
But they are correct overall supply was low. This is not suprising at all Kinect has been a great sucess and Microsoft had so many new games to keep the system going.
PS3 had only one game Gran Turismo 5. But I am expecting PS3 to kill it in 2011, they have like 20 exclusives while XBOX 360 has only 3!
This link gives you a list of all exclusives on 3 major consoles in 2011
http://bi.gazeta.pl/im/1/8923/z8923491O.jpg
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We must keep in Mind that they sell out more on East, West and South Coasts because about 200 million people live there.
Now sales in the middle of the country are behind because incomes are lower and less people live there.
But they are correct overall supply was low. This is not suprising at all Kinect has been a great sucess and Microsoft had so many new games to keep the system going.
PS3 had only one game Gran Turismo 5. But I am expecting PS3 to kill it in 2011, they have like 20 exclusives while XBOX 360 has only 3!
This link gives you a list of all exclusives on 3 major consoles in 2011
http://bi.gazeta.pl/im/1/8923/z8923491O.jpg
Posted: Jan 13th 2011 11:22AM MLC said
I know where I work, all we have in stock are the 250 Kinect bundles and thats it. We've been out of 4GB and 250GB w/o Kinect since x-mas eve.
Posted: Jan 13th 2011 11:22AM Typhonic said
Major Nelson might as well wear a giant clock around his neck.
Posted: Jan 13th 2011 11:22AM LoneWolf18 said
If we're speaking for NA, there is no way PS3 outsold Xbox for Dec. with Kinect being recently released.
Posted: Jan 13th 2011 11:28AM MyAbsolution said
@Vidikron
wait for the sales numbers later today, and you'll see why. It just won't happen considering the extreme sales of kinect.
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wait for the sales numbers later today, and you'll see why. It just won't happen considering the extreme sales of kinect.
Posted: Jan 13th 2011 11:38AM LoneWolf18 said
@Vidikron
The reason they're out of stock for December is due to the fact they have such a high demand from the holiday rush and the recent launch of the incredibly popular Kinect.
I'm pretty sure Microsoft had retailers stocked with 360's and Kinect's as much as they could. Just so happens demand exceeded supply by quite a bit.
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The reason they're out of stock for December is due to the fact they have such a high demand from the holiday rush and the recent launch of the incredibly popular Kinect.
I'm pretty sure Microsoft had retailers stocked with 360's and Kinect's as much as they could. Just so happens demand exceeded supply by quite a bit.
Posted: Jan 13th 2011 1:17PM spin cycle said
@LoneWolf18 I agree 360 outsold PS3, probably greatly.
However, the idea that demand outstripped supply on 360 greatly doesn't seem true. There's no problem finding any config of 360 you want in stores. If it demand outstripped supply, it didn't do it by enough to empty the retail shelves.
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However, the idea that demand outstripped supply on 360 greatly doesn't seem true. There's no problem finding any config of 360 you want in stores. If it demand outstripped supply, it didn't do it by enough to empty the retail shelves.
Posted: Jan 13th 2011 11:33AM sigma8 said
No matter that cause, I suppose this would make Pachter's prediction that the 360 doubled the PS3's sales to be pretty wrong. I wonder what he was using to make that estimate? Perceived demand? I presumed he had access to early sales reports, but maybe not.
Posted: Jan 13th 2011 11:38AM Faceless Troll said
@sigma8 You assume Pachter was using anything at all besides his own imagination.
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Posted: Jan 13th 2011 11:50AM sigma8 said
@Faceless Troll
I assume that, as a professional who does what he does for a living, he has access to the kinds of reports that you generally have to pay for, and that we only see the freebie bits or interpretive bits of. What do you assume? Let's have an ASSume contest.
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I assume that, as a professional who does what he does for a living, he has access to the kinds of reports that you generally have to pay for, and that we only see the freebie bits or interpretive bits of. What do you assume? Let's have an ASSume contest.
Posted: Jan 13th 2011 11:51AM lunaticox said
@sigma8
No offense to you but Patcher is a freaking' idiot. He hasn't made ONE prediction that I've seen being right yet. He's a Pro-Underdog, always wrong deuche bag. He even said in an interview that he only has to be right one in about 200 predictions to have his job. That's while the majority of us have to actually go to school and do some work to make a living, heck even executives actually have to plan and take risks.
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No offense to you but Patcher is a freaking' idiot. He hasn't made ONE prediction that I've seen being right yet. He's a Pro-Underdog, always wrong deuche bag. He even said in an interview that he only has to be right one in about 200 predictions to have his job. That's while the majority of us have to actually go to school and do some work to make a living, heck even executives actually have to plan and take risks.
Posted: Jan 13th 2011 12:00PM Faceless Troll said
@sigma8 Pachter only ever makes predictions that are so obvious a child could figure it out, or are completely wrong. If you can point out predictions he's made that don't fall into either category feel free.
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Posted: Jan 13th 2011 12:13PM sigma8 said
@Faceless Troll
http://russrenshaw.newsvine.com/_news/2007/08/11/891513-how-pachters-predictions-stand-up
I'd say that not all of those were super obvious or totally wrong. It's easy to feel resentful that this guy gets paid for something that you feel you could do. In many cases it will be obvious stuff, but he's generally being paid to predict these things for the sake of investors who don't give a hoot about actually playing games. So it won't be obvious to them.
The question is how much money would you make on the stock market by following his advice vs. yours. That's how he presumably keeps his job.
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http://russrenshaw.newsvine.com/_news/2007/08/11/891513-how-pachters-predictions-stand-up
I'd say that not all of those were super obvious or totally wrong. It's easy to feel resentful that this guy gets paid for something that you feel you could do. In many cases it will be obvious stuff, but he's generally being paid to predict these things for the sake of investors who don't give a hoot about actually playing games. So it won't be obvious to them.
The question is how much money would you make on the stock market by following his advice vs. yours. That's how he presumably keeps his job.
Posted: Jan 13th 2011 2:02PM Uncle Jesse said
@sigma8
How does the old saying go? Oh right!
When you assume, you make an asshole out of yourself.
Reply
How does the old saying go? Oh right!
When you assume, you make an asshole out of yourself.
Posted: Jan 13th 2011 11:35AM TyRetr0 said
Posted: Jan 13th 2011 11:36AM ybfelix said
I think you misunderstood him, he most likely is predicting vs Wii's sales, not PS3
Posted: Jan 13th 2011 11:37AM rpny said
Time for the annual shortage/supply tight stories to come in. They're perfect for spinning success when you sell so much everythings gone or failure, just in case you didn't reach huge numbers.
Which leads to the annual comments where everyone talks about how they've seen 10 at the local Best Buy in Kansas, so therefore a shortage can't be possible....
Which leads to the annual comments where everyone talks about how they've seen 10 at the local Best Buy in Kansas, so therefore a shortage can't be possible....
Posted: Jan 13th 2011 12:37PM A Sandwich said
@rpny
It's essentially the same rebuttal as the "Well it's cold at my house so global warming is a lie!" argument.
Reply
It's essentially the same rebuttal as the "Well it's cold at my house so global warming is a lie!" argument.
Posted: Jan 13th 2011 2:14PM tucsonspeed6 said
@A Sandwich
Assuming that Microsoft selectively took their numbers from high traffic, affluent areas like LA and New York as if they were thermometers placed in the middle of parking lots and next to air conditioning units and then applied those numbers to computer models that purposely over simplified the entire country and further applied the same number across the nation to make it appear as though every retailer down to the most rural Best Buy in the middle of Montana was selling dozens or hundreds of 360s a day and then correlated this model to future sales to make it appear as if their profits were going to skyrocket in a manner resembling a hockey stick, then yes. The situations would be very similar.
Of course, they're not similar, because if MS did something like this the corruption would be front page news everywhere. The board of directors and all of the C-level employees would be arrested for fraud and thrown into prison Enron style, and their concerned investors and employees who were getting screwed over wouldn't be called ignorant profit deniers by every college kid in the country who watches the Daily Show.
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Assuming that Microsoft selectively took their numbers from high traffic, affluent areas like LA and New York as if they were thermometers placed in the middle of parking lots and next to air conditioning units and then applied those numbers to computer models that purposely over simplified the entire country and further applied the same number across the nation to make it appear as though every retailer down to the most rural Best Buy in the middle of Montana was selling dozens or hundreds of 360s a day and then correlated this model to future sales to make it appear as if their profits were going to skyrocket in a manner resembling a hockey stick, then yes. The situations would be very similar.
Of course, they're not similar, because if MS did something like this the corruption would be front page news everywhere. The board of directors and all of the C-level employees would be arrested for fraud and thrown into prison Enron style, and their concerned investors and employees who were getting screwed over wouldn't be called ignorant profit deniers by every college kid in the country who watches the Daily Show.
Posted: Jan 13th 2011 11:41AM Lerkero said
He has to be talking about in specific markets. There is no way supply is that sparse when every store I've been to has ample stock (I live in the Detroit, MI area...heavily metropolitan).
And no, I don't know why I walk to the entertainment section of every store I go to just to see how many 360/PS3 systems are in stock. Maybe I just like the exercise.
And no, I don't know why I walk to the entertainment section of every store I go to just to see how many 360/PS3 systems are in stock. Maybe I just like the exercise.
Posted: Jan 13th 2011 11:50AM MyAbsolution said
@Lerkero
maybe because in the Detroit area people don't have cash to spare.
since ya know, homes sell for the price of a vcr.
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maybe because in the Detroit area people don't have cash to spare.
since ya know, homes sell for the price of a vcr.
Posted: Jan 13th 2011 11:59AM Edward351 said
@Lerkero It depends on the market maybe. I was in Walmart on Tuesday and did the stroll through the electronics dept. They had no stock on 360 consoles or Wii consoles. They had three 160GB PS3s and a couple of stand-alone Kinects though. This is in Dallas.
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Posted: Jan 13th 2011 5:23PM Lerkero said
@sigma8
For those that do not live in the Detroit area and only see news reports of how "horrible" the city is. Those news reports only report on the most impoverished and abandoned parts of the Metro area. Detroit (the city), is not the same as Metro Detroit. The city is surrounded by suburbs full of people with jobs and money to spend.
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For those that do not live in the Detroit area and only see news reports of how "horrible" the city is. Those news reports only report on the most impoverished and abandoned parts of the Metro area. Detroit (the city), is not the same as Metro Detroit. The city is surrounded by suburbs full of people with jobs and money to spend.
Posted: Jan 13th 2011 11:49AM Usr666 said
Bull I can get it off amazon right now and then, and just saw a ton at my local target the other day.
Posted: Jan 13th 2011 12:30PM KungFuChaosNinja said
@Usr666
Not entirely true. While they have the Kinect bundles, they don't have the Alan Wake/Forza 3 250GB bundle or the 4GB standalone. Both are out of stock.
http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-250GB-Holiday-Bundle/dp/B0047Y9BGE/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1294939677&sr=8-3
http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-4GB-Console/dp/B003O6JKLC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1294939677&sr=8-1
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Not entirely true. While they have the Kinect bundles, they don't have the Alan Wake/Forza 3 250GB bundle or the 4GB standalone. Both are out of stock.
http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-250GB-Holiday-Bundle/dp/B0047Y9BGE/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1294939677&sr=8-3
http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-4GB-Console/dp/B003O6JKLC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1294939677&sr=8-1
Posted: Jan 13th 2011 11:58AM PSYCHOxKING said
Sadly enough you come to philly area and you can find both quite easily. For those in the philly area, best bet to find them is @ target on Aramingo Ave or Kmart in the same place. Random Gamestop stores have em too but I dont shop there
Posted: Jan 13th 2011 12:03PM MusiM said
Weird. The Best Buy I go to had a ton of 360's and 360/Kinect bundles left. The only thing they actually sold out on across town was the individually packaged Kinect's. But then again I suppose they would just be referring to actual units shipped to stores.
Posted: Jan 13th 2011 12:27PM KungFuChaosNinja said
Xbox 360 S has done wonderful things for them at retail. They deserve it. Unlike prior hardware, it's a lot more stable, it's exterior is far sexier than any other system on the market, and like always, there are great games to be had. At the end of the day, though, every system is worth owning, but this is good news nonetheless.
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