Xbox 360 continues to lead the U.S. console market for the fifth straight month, selling more units in the U.S. than any other console for 13 of the past 14 months. Despite a slowing of console and software sales across the industry, Xbox 360 remains on track to have the biggest year in Xbox history – an unprecedented feat in the sixth year of its lifecycle.
July 2011 NPD highlights include:
· Holding 45% share of the overall current-generation console market, Xbox 360 sold 277,000 units in July, maintaining the number-one console spot in the U.S. for 2011. This marks the fifth month Xbox 360 has held more than 40% of the current-generation console market share. (Source: NPD Group, July 2011)
· Total retail spend on the Xbox 360 platform in July (hardware, software and accessories) reached $250 million, the most for any console in the U.S. (Source: NPD Group, July 2011)
Beyond NPD momentum, Kinect continues to inspire consumers in new ways. Kinect Fun Labs has garnered more than 1 million downloads in only two months. The worldwide gaming phenomenon “Fruit Ninja” came to Kinect for Xbox 360 yesterday as “Fruit Ninja Kinect” created by Halfbrick and Microsoft Studios. By the end of the year, the size of the Kinect games portfolio will triple and Xbox will bring new partnerships like UFC and Disney to the platform.
With “Gears of War 3” launching next month and more major launches to follow during the holiday, we expect Xbox 360 to maintain its lead throughout the year, ending 2011 as the number one console worldwide.
