Xbox 360 sales hit 19m

Microsoft’s results for its

third quarter show

that global sales of Xbox 360 have now surpassed the 19 million mark.

The overall figure represents a 74 percent increase from the same point a year ago.

Microsoft said that it shipped 1.3 million consoles during the quarter compared to 500,000 the year before.

It added that it had shipped 7.5 million during the first nine months of the fiscal year, and 5.9 million a year ago, respectively.

In January, Microsoft reported it had sold 17 million consoles overall – a figure that hit 18 million a month later.