Microsoft breaks Apple record
In its first 25 days on the market, Microsoft sold 2.5 million units of the controller-free gaming device, outpacing the iPad 2-to-1. Microsoft hopes to hit the 5 million sold mark by the end of the year.
The adoption rate of the iPad was celebrated as the fastest ever in electronics history. Now, less than a year after the tablet's launch, Microsoft has usurped that distinction with Kinect.
Kinect, Microsoft's new controller-free gaming peripheral for the Xbox 360, has been selling at a breakneck pace, with 2.5 million sensors sold within its first 25 days on the market (Read reviews of the Kinect).
As ReadWriteWeb notes, this means consumers have been purchasing Kinect twice as quickly as the iPad, which hit the 2 million mark two months after its release. Based on Kinect's sales thus far, ReadWriteWeb estimates that Microsoft is selling 100,000 Kinects per day. With approximately 4.5 million iPads sold every 90 days, Apple is moving an average of 50,000 iPads per day.
There are some caveats to these calculations--although they aren't likely to stop the Redmond giant from toasting its victory against Apple.
The Kinect figures include sales over Black Friday, typically the busiest shopping day of the year. And Microsoft's gaming gadget ($150-$400 each) is around half as expensive as Apple's iPad, which starts at $500. The two are also very different devices, one a gaming accessory to be used in the home, the other a portable tablet computer.
Still, the numbers suggest Microsoft has a hit on its hands, good news for a company looking for an "in" with consumers and high hopes of enticing non-gamers to fire up their Xboxes.
Microsoft hopes to sell a total of 5 million units by the end of the holiday season. Do you think they can meet that goal?
Regards
Raheel
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