Xbox 360 UK sales leap 36%

Official UK industry monitor ChartTrack has told MCV that Xbox 360 sales have risen 36 per cent since last Friday – when the platform holder sliced the ERP of the console to as little as 159.99.

The rise came in a period where other hardware struggled – with only PS3 enjoying a slight sales rise of six per cent, as every other console on the market dipped. Software sales also dropped week-on-week across the gamut of platforms – including 360.

The 360 jump couldn’t match the whopping 260 per cent rise Microsoft enjoyed after cutting the consoles price for the first time in August, 2007 – when it introduced the Elite model onto the market.

During week 11, Xbox 360 enjoyed a 36 per cent jump on week 10, which is a nice refreshing uplift for the console” ChartTrack director Dorian Bloch told MCV. That was just for the Friday and Saturday after the price cut. Microsoft will be especially pleased to see that the overall hardware market was down – that’s every format except PS3, which saw a very slight six per cent rise.

We need to wait two or three more weeks to see if the 360 sales surge will carry on. I would predict that it will increase again over the Easter period. It’s a bit of an odd year for the industry. Easter is early, and doesn’t coincide with the end of Q1 – when publishers traditionally release very big games – like it usually does.

Software sales dipped slightly on 360 despite the rise in hardware sales, but that’s no surprise: the week before saw the release of big titles such as Army Of Two and Bully. And with hardcore games like that, their natural audience like to get their hands on them in their first week.

The 260 per cent rise Xbox 360 enjoyed in August last year coincided with the introduction of Elite and Bioshock coming onto the market, which obviously gave it a massive boost.”

Microsoft lowered the price of all three Xbox SKUs last Friday.

The estimated retail price (ERP) for its entry-level Arcade SKU dipped to €199.99/159.99 – a drop of €80/50.

The mid-price console, Xbox 360 Pro, which includes a 20GB hard drive and one wireless controller, was given a new ERP of €269.99/199.99 – down from €349.99/249.99.

And the 120GB Xbox 360 Elite, was priced at €369.99/259.99 – a saving of €80/40.