Xbox 360 hits nineteen million units worldwide

Microsoft says it is the first manufacturer to sell over ten million next generation consoles in the US. Sales of the Xbox 360 passed the ten million mark the company announced this week, claiming that the milestone signaled success in the fight for market share against Sony's Playstation 3 and the Nintendo Wii.

Don Mattrick, senior vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business, Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft said: "History has shown us that the first company to reach ten million in console sales wins the generation battle. We are uniquely positioned to set a new benchmark for the industry."

The Xbox 360 is now the best selling console in the US, compared to 4.1 million PS3 units sold and 8.8 million Wii, although globally Nintendo has the lead, claiming 24.4 million units sold against 19 million Xbox 360s and 12.8 million PS3s.

Microsoft is also claiming the largest online console community, with twelve million subscriptions to its Xbox Live service. IDC research manager Billy Pidgeon said that the growth potential for online gaming makes this a very significant achievement.

"Reaching an installed base of ten million consoles in the U.S. is a significant achievement and an essential milestone on the road to market leadership. Perhaps more important is the Xbox 360 worldwide online base - twelve million Xbox LIVE gamers is the largest community in the connected console games sector, which represents the greatest growth opportunity in the console market and where Microsoft has been the leader for two generations," he said.

While Sony says it is on target to add another ten million PS3 units shipped by March next year, another indicator of the current strength of the Xbox 360 is its dominance in sales of best seller GTA IV, where Xbox 360 sales account for 62% of sales against 38% for the PS3.