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Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft's Chief Marketing Officer for its Interactive Entertainment Division, recently wrote in the company's official blog about the many successes of the Xbox 360. Mehdi is particularly excited about the future potential of the console, discussing how, "in the last year, the Xbox has transcended from a gaming console to a broad entertainment device inclusive of movies, TV, music and sports." He goes on to discuss how much time people spend with their 360, pointing out how Xbox Live subscribers spend 84 hours per month with the system on average. For comparison, Mehdi asserts, "the average American watches a little more than 150 hours of TV in the same period."
Medhi believes this has resulted in Microsoft's ability to "defy gravity" in the console life cycle. "Sales for Xbox 360 in year five were greater than in year four, sales in year six were greater than in year five, and sales in year seven were greater than in year six," said Medhi. All of these sales have culminated in $56 billion in revenue and 67 million consoles sold since 2005 (compare that to Sony's 63.9 million), and Microsoft attributes the continuing success to the 19 million Kinects sold and that they have 47% of the console marketshare.
Microsoft's philosophy with the Xbox is that "entertainment has become a multi-screen experience," and while Medhi wouldn't reveal what we can expect at next week's E3, he did say the company has, "a few surprises to share!"
