That’s right, you read that number correct. Microsoft has announced that in just 60 days, the Kinect has sold an astounding 8 million units. The sales numbers become astronomically more impressive when you take into account that this is not a 50 or 60 dollar game, but instead a 150 dollar peripheral that is a completely non-essential part of the playing experience. Steve Ballmer of Microsoft announced Avatar Kinect, a service that allows players to chat using their Avatars and Kinect, directly after announcing the figures. It is clear that Microsoft is banking on this big time, and why shouldn’t they be, 8 million is already an established base and the number has nowhere to go but up.
Microsoft has previously said that it hoped to sell 5 million Kinect units by the end of 2010, and they shattered that total by 3 million units, which is extremely impressive for any company to do. Steve Ballmer claimed during the press conference at CES that this was not the only time Microsoft will be placing “big bets” on new technology, instead reinforcing the ideal that this is what Microsoft is all about. He then proceeded to go on a long recount of the history of the Xbox and then claim that the Xbox was “front and center” of the social revolution. That’s a tall order for anyone.
Microsoft’s Kinect launched November 4th in North America, November 10th in Europe, and November 20th in Japan.
