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.
