Now as far as I can remember, NPD has always been about estimating the number of product units sold to customers in the US using various methods.  But, something in the June '11 NPD article has me very puzzled, as well as slightly worried.

"Michael Pachter did tell me in email however that much of the X360 year over year rise came from a) free X360s given away with Windows 7, and b) X360s sold directly to distributors (some of these units apparently ended up in Brazil) - and Microsoft convinced NPD to count both. Pachter didn't have figures on how many units those promotions added, but estimates that X360 would have dropped slightly year over year (-5% to -10%) without those inclusions."

Now, part A doesn't bother me one bit.  I would imagine any company would still add in consoles given away with a promotion that was in the region they were to track.  Part B, on the other hand, I find quite dishonest.  If MS has "convinced" NPD to include 360's sold to distibutors, which I would think any rational person would count as shipped and not sold, how can these numbers be even taken seriously or at face value.  Especially with the extra bit that some found their way into another country (so they will NEVER be sold in the US).  It just seems to me that MS is attempting to inflate their numbers to keep themselves up YOY.  Of course, like I mention in the title, this may also be how MS plans to achieve its stated goal of being #1 this year.

I suppose it's time Nintendo and Sony followed suit and convinced NPD to count all the units they ship out to distributors, as well.

lol first off its one month out of dozens of months that passed this gen. relax

its also mostly due to the 360 windows 7 promotion.

and it all works out due to if these are inflated due to being shipped then next month will be lower as its all about trying to actually sell those shipped

but how many since inception has ms been counting? How many have they "given away" outside of the windows 7 promo, and what else is counted?

Also, where do the 360 replacements come from? The distributors?

I'm very curious as to their numbers when it appears currently that ps3 sells many more games.

Michael Pachter estimated 360 sold 330k in June and he failed
thats why

b) X360s sold directly to distributors (some of these units apparently ended up in Brazil) - and Microsoft convinced NPD to count both

ps3 sells more games? when there isnt any fresh releases the 360 usually comes out on top software wise.....as it has done the entire gen mostly. 

its also not like ms is the only one giving away consoles. Sony has a free ps3 given to any rogers customer that buys 2 phones. They all do it. Some promos are just more successful then the other. 

I highly doubt he would claim that without having any info on the situation.  I would guess NPD had a footnote in their official release.  Otherwise, MS could AND would sue his ass off.

or just don't care him when many gamer think he is stupid

Lol, gamers may feel some of the things he says are stupid (trust me, I do too), but companies actually pay him/Wedbush Securities big bucks for his insight and advice.  So obviously, they do put credit in his word.  Plus, they wouldn't just be trying to sue him, but also the larger Wedbush Securities for libel.

huh?M$ sue him/Wedbush just becuase a mail about what he think(and the mail is not to the public)?

Sorry, I mean attach rate. 360 sells more games, but ps3 sometimes beats it. At one point, I think it was 4 months of straight higher sales, but with significantly less hardware. The attach rate for ps3 is higher every year IIRC, and that doesn't make sense to me.

I could be completely wrong, since I've been out of the sales loop for a while, but I was pretty sure that ps3 was now beating 360 in overall attach rate, and beating it also for 2 straight years.

And I'm not saying MS is wrong for doing it. They all do it, believe me, I know. But MS is the better marketer. Your alluded offer is good at rogers, a retailer which I've never heard of. MS' offer is with any windows 7 700$ pc no matter what retailer in all of usa. I'm pretty sure that MS is "selling" a whole lot more than nintendo or sony. That's what I'm trying to get at. What's the discrepancy?