Software giant Microsoft has announced its financial results for the quarter and financial year ended June 31, revealing firm figures for the global installed base of Xbox and its targets for the coming year. By the end of the financial year, Microsoft had sold 9.4 million Xbox consoles worldwide - far, far lower than some estimates recently, which had put the figure well north of the 10 million mark, with one piece of research suggesting that it was as high as 13 million.
During fiscal 2003, Microsoft sold 5.5 million consoles, and in the next year it expects to sell between 5 and 6.6 million consoles - bringing the installed base to somewhere between 14.5 and 16 million units in total. The figures for 2003 were helped slightly by the price cuts to the console in the last quarter, and the Home and Entertainment Division of Microsoft saw an 8 per cent rise in revenues during the quarter - bringing it to $483 million.
However, the price cut didn"t have that major an effect, according to Microsoft"s chief Xbox officer, Robbie Bach. "Certainly the price cut probably had some effect, though I think most people would tell you the effect has been pretty modest," he commented. One thing which emerges very clearly from the figures is that Microsoft is distinctly struggling in territories outside North America. A massive 6.2 million of its Xbox installed base - some 66 per cent, or two thirds - resides in North America, with Asia Pacific accounting for a mere 1 million units and Europe also lagging very badly, with 2.2 million units.