'Best year ever' for Xbox in ANZ

Stephen Withers
Wednesday, 20 January 2010 08:18

Your IT - Entertainment

Microsoft claims 2009 was the "best year ever" for Xbox in Australia and New Zealand, with growth in console sales, attach rate, and Xbox Live registrations and use.

Sometimes you have to read between the lines when looking at statistics published by vendors.

For example, Microsoft chose not to disclose the number of consoles it sold during the year in Australia and New Zealand, only that the number was up more than 12% on 2008, giving an installed base of more than 950,000 Xbox 360s.

At least it's consistent. The company didn't say how many consoles it sold during 2008 either, but we do know that at by end of that year a cumulative total of 500,000 Xbox 360s had been sold.

And that means at least 450,000 consoles were sold in 2009, almost doubling the market for games, accessories and content.

That's reflected in Xbox Live statistics, which include a 50+% increase in registered users to more than 450,000. So nearly half the 360s in Australia and New Zealand are used online.

The amount of time spent online didn't rise proportionately. It only went up by 34% to 136 million hours. That could mean that some people are losing interest in online gaming, or that more recent buyers just weren't as interested in the first place.

What about the average online time, and the all-important attach rate? Please read on.