Xbox 360 No. 1 Console for the Sixth Month in a Row

Halfway through 2011, Xbox 360 maintained its lead in the U.S. console market, selling more units in the U.S. than any other console for 12 of the past 13 months.

Even while console and software sales across the industry have slowed, Xbox 360 continues to grow and remains on track to have the biggest year in Xbox history. The console is in the sixth year of its lifecycle.

According to The NPD Group, an independent market research firm that tracks the digital entertainment market, June Xbox highlights include:

· Holding 48 percent share of the overall current-generation console market share, Xbox 360 sold 507,000 units, selling nearly twice as many units as other current-generation platforms and maintaining the number-one console spot in the U.S. for 2011. Additionally, Xbox 360 was the only console in the U.S. to show year-over-year growth in the month of June.

· Total retail spend on the Xbox 360 platform (hardware, software and accessories) reached $350 million, the most for any console in the U.S.

· During the month of June, four of the top 10 console game titles were for Xbox 360 including: “L.A. Noire,” “Duke Nukem Forever,” “NBA 2K11” and “Call of Duty: Black Ops.”

With the holiday season and major launches just around the corner, the second half of 2011 promises to make Xbox 360 history. The size of the Kinect games portfolio will triple by the end of the year, and Xbox will bring new partnerships like UFC and Disney to the platform as well as blockbuster games, movies, music and TV together in one place.

Microsoft expects Xbox 360 to maintain its lead and to be number one worldwide by the end of the year, selling more hardware units than PlayStation and Wii.

Posted by Jeff Meisner
Editor, The Official Microsoft Blog

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