Xbox 360 Group Product Manager Aaron Greenberg has boldly predicted that the Xbox 360 will outsell the PlayStation 3 over the holiday season in both North America and Europe.
Okay, so maybe a Microsoft guy predicting a Microsoft victory isn’t exactly “bold,” but if September is any indication of things to come, he may at least be right. Price cuts across the Xbox 360 lineup in September resulted in a significant boost for the console, not enough to push it past Nintendo but more than adequate to muscle past Sony into second place, with sales of 374,200 systems compared to 232,400 PlayStation 3 consoles sold. (Nintendo, for the record, remained at the top of the heap with 687,000 Wii units sold, according to NPD figures.) Perhaps even more impressively, the 360 outsold the PS3 in Japan in September for the first time ever.
It’s a trend Greenberg believes is going to continue. “We expect to continue our price advantage over the PlayStation 3 for a long time,” Greenberg told Kotaku. “And we feel confident that we’ll outsell the PS3 this holiday season in North America and in Europe. We’ll do it on a global scale.” He also pointed out the Xbox 360’s very high attach rate of 8.1 games per console, compared to a 2:1 rate for the PlayStation 3 and 3:1 for the Wii, as another reason to have high hopes for the console. “We’ve seen lifts across all consoles, but the Arcade is doing exceptionally well,” he added.
The price cut is obviously having a huge impact on Microsoft’s console sales, and Greenberg’s optimism was no doubt strengthened by Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Kaz Hirai, who said last week that Sony had no intention of making similar price cuts to the PlayStation 3. But the strength of Sony’s commitment to that stance will be sorely tested if the reduced prices continue to drive Xbox 360 sales at the expense of the PS3.
