Xbox unit sales and revenue up in ‘incredible’ quarter

Momentum appears to be building for the Xbox One.

Microsoft last night revealed that it sold 1.4m Xbox consoles in its fourth quarter, which is up on the 1.1m sold in the same quarter the previous year. CEO Satya Nadella described it as an incredible” quarter for Xbox.

Furthermore, revenues at the company’s computing and gaming hardware division were up 44 per cent year-on-year at $591m, a number credited to not only improved console sales but also a jump in Xbox Live revenue and stronger first party sales – which of course now includes Minecraft.

Xbox revenues climbed ten per cent to $86m, with higher sales offsetting the console’s lower RRP. Xbox Live transactions climbed 58 per cent to $205m, with both user numbers and revenue per user up.

Surface is doing well, too, revenue up by 117 per cent on the back of the launch of Surface 3.

Overall Microsoft saw revenues of $22.2bn but suffered a $2.1bn loss thanks in no small part to charges relating to its purchase of Nokia. Total devices and consumer revenue down $1.3bn thanks to a sharp decrease in phone sales.