670°

360 suffers worst quarter in 2 years

A look at the 360's sales since the September 08 price cut.

The recent sales boost Microsoft's Xbox 360 console has enjoyed since a drastic price cut in September of last year seems to have fizzled out as a result of stiff competition and the current worldwide economic recession take their toll on the once considered "recession proof" videogames industry. Microsoft reported during their fiscal year end update today, 360 sales for the 4th quarter amounted to only 1.2 million units, it's lowest quarter since 2007 when the console sold 0.7 million units for the 3 month period ending June 30th.

Microsoft's Xbox 360 console had enjoyed a sales boost versus its competition when they announced lower prices on all 3 available 360 versions in September of 2008. Prior to that, 360 sales growth had remained flat year over year in their primary, US market to NPD data which tracks sales data in the US. The price cut came in the nick of time as 360 sales trailed their closest rival, Sony's Playstation 3, by over a million consoles worldwide for the 2008 calendar year according to Sony and Microsoft's official numbers. With the price cut in effect, 360 sales and a strong holiday season enabled Microsoft's games console to finish the 2008 calendar year in a virtual tie with Sony's PS3.

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smgamers.com
darthv725392d ago

Is there any reason to not think that this time of year sales are generally down? True the 360 has sold less in this time but not to the same degree of the competition.

socomnick5392d ago

Hmm I was under the impression that the 360 was up in sales by like 25 percent last month. :/

Anon19745392d ago (Edited 5392d ago )

They kinda talk about that. Sales aren't always down this time of year, and a drop this significant would certainly seem newsworthy considering the amount of "PS3/Wii sales are poor" articles we've been subjected to as of late. This is simply telling the other side of the story, and doesn't have anything to do with Micrsoft's greater fiscal release.

How some can figure that MS's fiscal release and this article looking at 360 sales are one in the same defies logic.

Edit above: Indeed, that's the PR microsoft was spinning. May NPD numbers put them up in the US 22% for the first 5 months of the year. Clearly this wasn't the entire story.

Anon19745392d ago

Unless of course it's about PS3 and Wii slowing sales.
The article was approved, then failed. The first time it was failed because it was allegedly a dupe of MS's press release (how anyone can mistake and article about sales and MS's fiscal press release is beyond me) the second time it was failed because it was the same as the first time it failed.
This is madness...

gambare5392d ago (Edited 5392d ago )

"Hmm I was under the impression that the 360 was up in sales by like 25 percent last month. :/ "

Sales doesn't reflect earnings, you can have sales with loses.

anyway all the industry had a hard hit this year but the 360 is the cheapest console and that will be reflected in sales, but just sales.

Snake Raiser5392d ago

To be fair...all the consoles did. Then again, I think this would be a good time for Sony to cut the price for the PS3 and try to gain some momentum on MS.

Kill Crow5392d ago

spam for your pro PS3 blog site ....

El Botto5392d ago (Edited 5392d ago )

Why, yes, smart ass. In case it didnt cross your obviously brilliant mind, the 360 had a pricecut down to 199 making it the cheapest console of the three.

This pricecut was done to increase market share at the costs of lower margins. They have sacrificed their margin so to speak in an suicide move. I stated this months ago.

And yesterday this was confirmed. What was also confirmed, is that the TACTIC has FAILED. They should be having major boosts compared to PS3 and Wii. But no, they arent. This means only one thing. When the spike increased last year, they werent attracting new consumers and they werent increasing their marketshare. They were BORROWING from the future quarters (higher sales now, but lower sales in the future. Sum = zero aka known as failure.

The bottomline is that the 360 is dead. They arent gaining much despite their suicidal efforts.

Sony and Nintendo have increased their moats in the words of Buffet. And Buffet once said "throwing billions of dollars against Coca Cola, I can still not think of a way to take it down".

Well, MS is experiencing the same thing with Sony's PS3. Lmao. 9 billion in red thrown against the PS3. And the PS3 is still doing better.

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 5392d ago
Simon_Brezhnev5392d ago

if this was a PS3 article & even if its a duplicate it will get approved quicker then lightening

gaffyh5392d ago

You're probably right, but still this is a flamebait article, and I'd like to think that some people have more class than the fanboys that approve these articles.

Of course MS had it's worst time, we're in a recession, I'd be surprised if any company is doing better than they were last year.

iChaos Amongus5392d ago

There should be PS3 articles arriving like this very soon, surely you understand Xbox 360 is not the only console being hurt by the recession. Wii and PS3 are also and considering PS3's price...its suffering the most.

Pandemic5392d ago

Pshh, look at the approvals, it's all people who have votes of 1. -_-

indysurfn5392d ago

If the worst Microsoft has is making only 100plus million dollars in two years during the worst recession since 1929, then who is to complain!? Certainly not a actual money losing Sony fantoy, (I hate hypocrites ). Too bad Sony IS actually losing money of the big three, they are the only losers. Poor Microsoft, they said the worst is behind them (only made 3.99 billion this last quarter in profits). I guess that is enough to make Sony cry with envy. A few billion put them on junk credit watch. What is Microsoft going to do with all that cash? I know they are talking about buying Yahoo again as of Thursday evening. But that is not enough for all that cash. Wonder if they would bother buying Sony. NAH! Too easy.

mynd5392d ago (Edited 5392d ago )

I'll tell you why this article is stupid:-

"Microsoft’s Xbox 360 console had enjoyed a sales boost versus its competition when they announced lower prices on all 3 available 360 versions in September of 2008"

- Had? We dont know if it is still having a boost "versus it's competition." Sony's numbers arent out yet.

He compares it to Sonys console, then to itself pre economic meltdown.
Clever stuff, and pointless.
Wait till Sonys numbers come out and we see who has feared better this 1/4.

Willio5392d ago

I don't really understand your logic but your last statement doesnt make any sense. Sony is actually bigger than MS in the stock exchange.

5392d ago
IdleLeeSiuLung5392d ago

There is a lot of mixed signals in the data, but all things considered Xbox division (E&D) came away pretty unscathed.

I guess MS have a year on year increase in console unit sales, but not quarterly...... A positive income is more than any business can really ask for unless you are Nintendo that is raking in money even with an expected decline in profit.

Thugbot1875392d ago

Stupid article, no one is doing well.

iChaos Amongus5392d ago

I saw somebody post it not too long ago and found it very interesting, it's the Forbes Global 2000 where they show the top 2,000 corporations in the world and their Market Value or otherwords "how much they are worth as a whole if bought today".

Microsoft is the 6th most valuable corporation in the world worth 143.58 billion in value.

Nintendo is worth 41.25 billion in market value.

Here you can see Microsoft and Nintendo.
http://www.forbes.com/lists...

Sony is worth 17.12 billion in market value.
http://www.forbes.com/lists...

cherrypie5392d ago

The division is more than just Xbox 360.

AND, sales are up 35% year-over-year.

So, their's a great chance the losses are non-Xbox 360 related.

morkendo5392d ago (Edited 5392d ago )

360 sales and a strong holiday season enabled Microsoft's games console to finish the 2008 calendar year in a virtual tie with Sony's PS3.

if that statement is true "virtually TIE" with ps3 then why are all the 360 fanboys whining about ps3 going to fail or its dead like dreamcast?? IMO they both are doing poorly for now even when the holidays hit Im sure both will get hot sales after ps3 lower its price and MS will copy and compete with price cut and both slump back to weak sales after holiday.
in the meantime this just in : a cat head was stuck in mrs. crabtree furnace. details at 11

shadow27975392d ago

^ That is interesting, I'm not really surprised by Microsoft. But Nintendo is very surprising since they only deal in the videogame market. However, both the Wii and the DS are very successful right now, so I'm sure that has a lot to do with it.

Did you also happen to notice that both Sony's sales and assets are higher than Microsoft's (though profits are much lower)? Perhaps that's only surprising to me. Now that I think about it, Sony does have a lot of products. But I still find that surprising for some reason.

IdleLeeSiuLung5392d ago (Edited 5392d ago )

Did you also notice that the profit margin at MS overall is extremely high relative to any company on that list.

I'm also surprised at the actual market value of Sony being relatively small, but assume it is due to large debt considering the large amount of assets.

Immortal Kaim5392d ago

LOL Darkride, you're really predictable. Looking forward to the same reports about Sony's and Nintendo's quarters ;)

king dong35392d ago

leave it out

we know you're a sony fanboy on some crusade to make things better for you beloved sony, but ffs when writing a slanted fanboy blog atleast get some facts right.

npd has just shown that the 360 was the only console to increase it's year over year. and recently in the UK, the worlds second biggest gaming market, the 360 has outsold the wii for the last six months.

truely, you are pathetic, and your blog is just another waste of time cheerleading piece of sh!t especially wrote for blogs4fanboys.

Syronicus5392d ago

Especially considering that the 360 has some great games to offer and is also the cheapest console on the market and it still can't sell like the Wii. You would think that in time of recession a console as cheap as the 360 would be selling well or at least better than this. I'm not saying it is selling horribly but it is not selling like the Wii and yet it is the cheapest of the two.

dcbronco5392d ago

Though the Sony fanboys will disagree with this, the funny thing is that just two years ago, Sony's market cap was much higher than Nintendo's. And the fanboys don't even realize that while they say Microsoft is having problems, the reality is that Sony has lost over half it's value. Also they miss the fact that the Xbox's division was actually profitable for the year. Sony's games division wasn't. And neither was Sony as a company.

+ Show (16) more repliesLast reply 5392d ago
ultimolu5392d ago

Can someone provide a link which shows this is a duplicate?

meepmoopmeep5392d ago (Edited 5392d ago )

i dunno, the other one was reporting the fiscal year.
this one is an article of that.

it's not necessarily a duplicate, but an article of a recent story.
it doesn't really bring anything new though.

Ju5392d ago

Just go check who reported this duplicate already. LOL

I did not murder him5392d ago (Edited 5392d ago )

Who approved is more interesting.

ultimolu5392d ago (Edited 5392d ago )

Lol and the disagrees. Really, it's not my fault that this is happening. o_o

And...

http://www.gamasutra.com/ph...

Goodbye.

II Necroplasm II5392d ago

Now ultimoludpu, show Sony's PS3 profit report.

ukilnme5392d ago

@ II Necroplasm II

You know she won't post those. Much like morganfell she will tuck her tail between her legs and disappear when they know they don't have a leg to stand on.

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 5392d ago
mint royale5392d ago

MS sells less during the slowest part of the year. Last year saw more of a price cut boost during this period and a recession hence the slowest quarter in sales for 2 years. This cannot be turned into a MS is doomed article becuase SOny and Nintendo will post equally poor sales. Its just the state of the industry right now. Infact as it is 2008 could turn out to be the peak year for this generation of consoles. Heres hoping that things pick up this christmas and 2010.

iChaos Amongus5392d ago

Yea the industry as a whole is doing much worse than it was a year ago, but things should be picking back up with the next year and this holiday season.

gaffyh5392d ago (Edited 5392d ago )

Pricecut came in August last year, so it;'s data will not be included in last year's financial results, but this years' instead.

Edit:

I know I'll probably get disagrees, but it's the truth.

green5392d ago

We are in the middle of a recession so shipping 100,000 less than last year while reducing losses is even more or a victory than a loss.If any one thinks that Microsoft shipping 100,000 less consoles is bad, then i wonder what they will say when Sony and Nintendo report theirs.

iChaos Amongus5392d ago

Hard times, people just aren't willing to buy as much with the economy in such a bad recession.

Show all comments (87)
70°

7 Iconic Games That Put The PS1 On The Map

The first PlayStation is home to an array of iconic video games that went on to define the sheer significance of this console.

SimpleSlave2h ago

I think from a historical perspective I would change Spyro for Grand Turismo. It's the franchise that made the PS1 look like an absolute unit. Other than that, I can't argue with the rest when it comes to games that defined the PS1.

And to be honest, there should be space for Tekken 3, Wipepout and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater in order to round out the PS1 identity as the machine to own at the time.

With Tomb Raider 2, Silent Hill, Symphony of the Night, Tenchu, and Soul Reaver as backup contenders.

60°

Pacific Rim Pinball comes to Pinball FX

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290°

Microsoft’s Surface and Xbox hardware revenues take a big hit in Q3

Microsoft just posted the third quarter of its 2024 fiscal financial results. The software maker made $61.9 billion in revenue and a net income of $21.9 billion during Q3. Revenue is up 17 percent, and net income has increased by 20 percent.

Read Full Story >>
theverge.com
darthv722d ago

Xbox content + services up 62% while hardware down 31%... seems about right with the way they tout you don't need the hardware to play. People can play on their phones or smart tv or other means. I don't hardly play on my consoles directly since getting devices like the logitech g-cloud and ps portal. Which is to also say I have been playing more digital than physical because of these devices.

solideagle2d ago

you should apply in MS PR team buddy, I think you will do a great job in my humble opinion :)

Sonic18811d 21h ago

I thought darthv72 and Obscure_Observer already work for Microsoft 🤔

dveio1d 21h ago

MS: "Xbox services and content without AB up 1%, with AB up 62%. Hardware down 31%. In total a loss of 350 mill."

darthv72: "Seems about right."

MS: "Excuse m ..."

darthv72: "I don't hardly play on my consoles directly."

MS:

Lightning771d 16h ago

What he said was facts. How he plays games is no concern of you. Don't get too mad about it.

Cacabunga1d 23h ago

I can tell people like you are an absolute minority..

If service is up means their fans and fanboys accepted this model and subscribed to it. The near future you will see a big decline because the service is saturated.

darthv721d 9h ago

to you it may seem like the minority... but your bubble is shrinking because more and more are following suit. convenience is a hell of a drug and its also why physical sales only amount to 30% of overall game sales. times are changing, you either get with them or you get left behind.

neutralgamer19921d 4h ago

Darth

30% physical sales: yet Phil and xbox division are in a rush go give up on that 30%. they don't have any right to give up any piece of the pie since the control such a little of the pie to begin with

also, the market is clearly speaking that the model Xbox is pushing isn't working right now the keyword being right now. you are right about freedom to play anywhere so i hope they put their games on steam

shinoff21831d 22h ago

But that's been ms for years. When things aren't going their way they try to change the way things are said. For instance console sales are down, they stop telling how many sold instead telling us how many hours spent in halo or headshots. So it makes sense console sales down just say people are playing on more devices then previous. What they won't say is how many xbox players jumped ship to ps5.

Cacabunga1d 21h ago

Hardware sales are so bad that Sony and Nintendo are blowing the sales off the water with their hardware.

If Xbox are losers, others aren’t..
Xbox already tried everything with Xbox live then subscriptions went down so much that they had to find something else. Their fans subscribed then reached saturation rather quickly.

Hardware and exclusive games is where it’s at! Keep gamers excited, announce decent software and people will support you

itsmebryan1d 17h ago

@shin
Well keep it simple Sony 's operating income is down 26% and Microsoft's is up 32%. No MS spin there, just facts. 😉
Cheers

S2Killinit1d 10h ago

MS is after diminishing consoles as a medium. They want to destroy this market because they couldnt win. MS’s vision is to dissolve console gaming.

romulus231d 16h ago

Odd that a company that touts you dont need the hardware to play is already touting another console in the works.

darthv721d 16h ago

They are not reliant on the HW but still want to maintain a presence (no matter how small) is a good thing. It shows commitment to the craft. It reminds me of SNK and how they made games for their own hardware (Neo Geo) while also making them for others because they knew there was a market to do so. They knew they would sell more to others but also sell to their own niche fan base.

TheEroica1d 10h ago (Edited 1d 10h ago )

Perfectly reasonable post down voted by insecure corporation friendly folk.... But not gamers. Real gamer want accessibility and ease of acquisition for all.... Company shills are the only ones still telling us that hardware locking people from games is good for us.

Chevalier1d 5h ago

@Darth

You should stop parroting metrics like an idiot without context.

"Xbox content and services revenue grew 62% in Q3 from a year earlier, “driven by 61 points of net impact” from the purchase of the third-party video game giant, Microsoft said."

61 of the 62% was from their merger so net increase is ONLY 1%

https://www.mesaonline.org/...

itsmebryan20h ago

@chevalier

It looks like made a great purchase. Much better then Sony buying Bungie. 😉
Cheers

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 20h ago
purple1012d ago

Xbox hardware revenue tanks to lowest point of Xbox Series generation

Profchaos2d ago

I'm not surprised surface is struggling they aren't relevant anymore

DOMination-1d 15h ago

In the last two years they've started exiting the consumer market altogether. All of the newest Surface products are business models only. They can't seem to work out what they want to do with it.

XBManiac2d ago

Too expensive hardware when others offer the same or more for less? Good work, Green Team.

SimpleDad2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

"Despite some early successes for Xbox games on rival platforms, Xbox hardware is down by a massive 31 percent this quarter."
"Without Activision Blizzard, Microsoft’s overall gaming revenue would have actually declined this quarter."
"Xbox content and services would have only been up a single percent without Activision Blizzard..."
"It looks like next quarter is going to be a similar story for gaming at Microsoft, too."

That is crazy... so A/B/K is carrying the whole Xbox gaming.
Oh and Microsoft will be fine. Windows, Office and Cloud are growing with each pc purchase.

purple1012d ago

Activision: "we gonna need a bigger rucksack/backpack please"

Microsoft: "why's that"

Activision: "to carry yo' weak ass'

Profchaos2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

Top brass have also wanted to start seeing returns on the 100 billion they have put into various Xbox related moves so seeing more multiplatform games is highly likely especially from abk

It's basically saying that PlayStation is the reason Xbox is afloat right now thinks to Ps5 versions of COD

Kornholic1d 22h ago

So basically PS and PC gamers' money is keeping Xbox on life support.

MrDead1d 16h ago

The only growth MS will get out of the console industry is if it supports it's rivals platforms. Xbox is a pointless machine now. I can see them on a big push for live next, and they won't give up on trying to buy Steam.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 1d 16h ago
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