MS has been really smart with their price cuts. They have basically coasted through most of the year, and then spurred demand at the right moments to help 360 significantly outpace XBox through three years, after taking most of one year just to catch up.
Pretty impressive that they didn't need December to pass original XBox too. Obviously they've already shipped a lot of what will be sold in December, but nontheless... If 25-30% of yearly sales take place in December, then its really the equivalent of an extra 25-30% of a year that they are outpacing XBox by.
If we say XBox had a four year lifespan, then 360 would really only be ahead by about half a sales-year if they reached XBox numbers in Jan. Instead, they're closer to an entire year ahead.
"[Our former customers] are unable to find software which they WANT to play."
"The way to solve this problem lies in how to communicate what kind of games [they CAN play]."
Satoru Iwata, Nintendo President. Only slightly paraphrased.
