I just find this unacceptable and there's no other reason for doing this but to hide how far behind the XB1 really is. We have silly youtube sites like Crapgamer already spreading rumours about the XB1 hitting 18m units sold and now this move has guarenteed the lies can continue in a vacuum. MS know this full well. To add to that MS are now also refusing to differentiate between Silver and Gold on LIVE. It's all about hiding those statistics as they slowly transition over to a PC only company again.

Update: Microsoft will not be using console shipments as its primary metric for success beginning with this quarter, we have been told. The company is more focused on engagement, leading it to choose Xbox Live usership as its leading statistic.

While that doesn't mean we won't hear about console shipment statistics, it won't be something we should expect to see every quarter. Microsoft also indicates that the 39 million Xbox Live users reported today are more narrowly defined now. We've been told that this metric now reflects users that have logged in within the past month. No differentiation has been made between gold (paying) and silver (free) members.

Original Story (October 22 at 4:29 p.m. Central):

Microsoft has announced the results of its first fiscal quarter for the current year. The company has not revealed how many consoles it shipped, which is a change from past reporting practices.

The company does indicate that total gaming hardware revenue is down year-over-year, attributing the decline to lower sales of Xbox 360. A further breakdown across console types is unavailable. Xbox Live has seen a boom over last year at the same time, though.  Usership is up 28 percent to 39 million. 

The Xbox group is now reported as part of Microsoft’s personal computing division. With the release of the New Xbox One Experience next month and deeper integration with PC since the launch of Windows 10, Microsoft appears to be unifying that category.

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2015/10/22/xbox-hardware-sales-down-xbox-live-user-up-to-39-million.aspx

When will we get a zombies killed update?

Hey guys, I hear the Xbox One is at 18 million units sold now!

This is PR strategy which Sony adopted in PS3 era. It's business as usual. I see no issue.

Sony only released PSN figures? I could have sworn they just started putting PS2 and PS3 figures together.

Thing is Microfost isnt doing any cardinal sin. They are doing business. But the hidden agenda is in the "fan warfare". Some will claim some imaginary number (example, Xbox One shold 20 million units). That time other fans find it unacceptable. So I dont care if Sony / Microsoft / Nintendo uses a policy that pleases them. I need my games in my preferred system. And I am happy.

Not all companies exist "solely" to make money. Many of them also want to achieve something else along the way.

One really has to wonder about MS's direction in the video game market after this move. While this is an obvious move to hide the low sales of the XB1. Are they done with hardware?

18 million sold? That's awesome!!

In my opinion, yes. I can't see them releasing another console in the future. Everything points to them transitioning the Xbox division over to the PC. Once it's almost complete, they'll rebrand and drop console manufacturing. Directs 12, Windows 10 and Cortana are all about bringing the XB1 in line with PCs. People think it's to make it easier to bring games to the XB1 but it's really about bringing XB1 owners over to the PC.