Microsoft rolled out their fiscal year results for 2013, talking a mean game about having an install base of 78.2 million Xbox 360 units, and pushing for the Windows Phone as one of the primary revenue makers throughout the year.
According to Gamechup, Microsoft moved a total of one million Xbox 360 units throughout the past quarter, down from the 1.1 million units moved in Q4 2012. On the bright side, they at least managed to move 9.9 million Xbox 360 units in total throughout the past fiscal year.
The investor sheet didn't seem entirely warmed to the financial results of the Xbox brand located in their Entertainment and Devices Division, which they attribute the massive revenue surge to their latest smartphone, saying...
EDD revenue increased $134 million, or 8%, primarily due to higher Windows Phone revenue, offset in part by lower Xbox 360 platform revenue.
That's a bit of a backhanded statement to the success of the Xbox 360, or, in this particular case the success of the Windows Phone that managed to carry the Xbox 360.
There's an obvious wane in the popularity of the home entertainment console, especially on the verge of the release of the Xbox One this fall, but that hasn't stopped people from investing in another aspect of the Xbox brand... Xbox Live.
According to GameIndustry.biz, despite the fading star power of the 360, Microsoft is still raking in and racking up the numbers for their premium online service, with GI.biz writing...
Microsoft cited "increasing demand" for Xbox Live in addition to its other services like Skype and Outlook.com. In fact, during the fourth quarter, transactional revenue within Xbox Live grew nearly 20 percent, Microsoft said.
It will be a real testament of staying power when Microsoft completely converts their digital currency from Microsoft Points to real-world dollar values later this year, as some gamers feel as if the price of goods may become exponentially higher in specific regions of the world, namely New Zealand and Australia.
Microsoft doesn't appear to be too worried, especially given that apparently the Xbox One is already over and beyond in pre-orders compared to what the Xbox 360 was doing when it was prepping for launch back in 2005, according to a Twitter message from Chief of Staff for Devices and Studios Group at Microsoft, Aaron Greenberg...
Whether or not this is entirely true remains to be seen, and previously some retail outlets were still well stocked on Xbox One units. However, some people have speculated that the actual stock keeping pre-order unit count for Xbox One consoles are kept rather low, so demand appears high. For instance, GameStop only having 20 units available for pre-order, which would easily sell out and could be used as a marketing talking point.
Whether or not the Xbox One selling out at specific retailers will turn out to be as big on the NPD charts as the PS4 selling out at retailers remains to be seen, but at least it sounds as if Microsoft isn't completely out of the game.
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