Xbox 360 Maintains Lead in U.S. Console Market in January, Ends 2011 as No. 1 Console Worldwide

02/09/2012

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Kicking off 2012, Xbox 360 continues to lead the console market, turning in another month as the best-selling console in the U.S.

NPD highlights from January include:

· Xbox 360 sold more than 270,000 units in January, maintaining the number-one console spot in the U.S. This marks the thirteenth straight month Xbox 360 was the top-selling console in the U.S.

· Holding a 49 percent share of current-generation console sales, total retail spend on the Xbox 360 platform in January (hardware, software and accessories) reached $301 million, the most for any console in the U.S. This marks the eleventh consecutive month Xbox 360 has held more than 40 percent of the current-generation console market share.

· During the month of January, Xbox 360 held five of the top 10 U.S. console game titles, including: “Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim,” “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3,” “Battlefield 3,” “NBA 2K12” and “Just Dance 3.”

Last week, Xbox 360 was revealed as the number-one selling console worldwide in 2011, according to publicly disclosed financial data from Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo. Historically, after several years in a console’s lifecycle, demand softens, but Xbox 360 continues to defy that convention. Xbox 360 has found new ways to extend the lifecycle of the console by re-imagining entertainment and delivering new technologies like Kinect for Xbox 360, a new Xbox dashboard, and new entertainment content partners in 2011. (See the chart below.)

In 2012, Xbox 360 will again launch new games, including additions to the famed “Halo” and “Fable” franchises. Xbox LIVE’s group of more than 50 entertainment partners will continue to expand with Comcast and many more launching this year. Xbox 360 will also launch entirely new ways to interact with popular television shows with groundbreaking experiences like “Kinect Sesame Street TV” and “Nat Geo TV.”

Posted by Jeff Meisner

Editor, The Official Microsoft Blog