Xbox 360 tripling PS3 growth in 2011

Microsoft has announced that in the first four months of 2011 the Xbox 360 has enjoyed year-on-year unit sales growth of 29 per cent in the US– that’s triple the growth seen by PS3 in the same period.

The console has now sold 55m units worldwide. This figure spans sales across 38 countries. There are now 35m "active" Xbox Live members who, on average, spend 60 hours a month on the service.

Amazingly, in terms of consoles sold and retail revenue generated 2010 was Xbox 360’s best ever year. And as Microsoft points out, "no other console in history can make that claim six years into their lifecycle".

It was also the best selling console in ten of the past 11 months in the US.

Sales of the Kinect sensor have passed 10m, as have unit sales of standalone Kinect software.