Microsoft Has Almost Sold Half A Million Xbox 360s In Australia. Almost.

Damn Christmas! It always gets in the way of good PR!

According to the press release that landed in my inbox this morning, Microsoft will have sold 500,000 Xbox 360s in Australia when Santa finally puts those presents under your tree next week. At the moment, they’re just short of that number. But because of a lot of publications are shutting down for a couple of weeks over the Christmas break, they can’t very well wait until they’ve actually sold the half-mil, can they?

Still, almost 500,000 is still an impressive number, even if it is a little vague. Looks like quite a few people may be spending their time off developing a bad case of RSI this summer…

Xbox 360 ends 2008 on a high:
Closing in on half a million units sold in Australia
Local gaming industry experiences biggest week ever

SYDNEY 19 December 2008 – Microsoft’s Entertainment & Devices Division (EDD) today announced that by Christmas, 500,000 Xbox 360 consoles will be sold in Australia*, making the console the most popular of any High Definition next generation platform.

This announcement coincides with the news that last week alone Australians bought over $100 million worth of gaming products, setting a record for the largest week ever in the history of Australian gaming.

Microsoft EDD Regional Director (ANZ) David McLean said, “Although it’s a challenging worldwide economic landscape, Xbox Australia has seen an increase of 52 per cent in console sales in recent weeks compared to this time last year. By Christmas, Australians will have spent more on the Xbox 360 than they did on the original Xbox console.

“Xbox users to date have bought more software and accessories per console than users of any other next-generation console,” commented McLean. “2008 has been the strongest year in Australia for Xbox since we entered the market seven years ago and we still have two weeks to go.”

Local facts*
· Australians have spent $608 million since the beginning of October on gaming products, which is a 40 per cent increase on the same period last year
· Xbox 360 has now sold 25 million consoles worldwide with over 4 million games sold in Australia
· Over 50 per cent of Xbox 360 users in Australia are now connected to Xbox LIVE
· Australians are turning to gaming as a cost effective form of entertainment and a great option for those holidaying at home

Over 14 million people globally are connected through the Xbox LIVE social entertainment network worldwide. This Xbox LIVE growth momentum will continue locally as broadband becomes faster and ubiquitous.

– ends –
* All figures quoted are supplied by GFK except for Xbox LIVE figures


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

It’s the most popular NBN speed in Australia for a reason. Here are the cheapest plans available.

At Gizmodo, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.