MS to make $1bn from Kinect in year one

Though opinion on the likely success or otherwise of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Kinect camera remains divided, Caris & Co analyst Sandeep Aggarwal believes the camera could make as much as $1bn for the company in its first year on the market.

Kinect could generate $2bn in incremental consumer spending on video games in the first year after launch, with 50-60 per cent of that going to Microsoft itself,” Barron’s reports, as spotted by Spong.

Aggarwal thinks that 15-25 per cent of current Xbox 360 owners will buy Kinect in its first year on sale, boosting software sales and increasing hardware sales by around 1m units opn top of what otherwise would have been sold.

As a knock-on effect he also foresees increased Xbox Live subscription numbers.