[Deadmeat]

Xbox Grows Console Market While Competitors Decline
Xbox Powering Ahead for 2004 After a Bumper Xmas Season

16 January, 2004, Sydney – Xbox today revealed it is closing the gap on its competitor, with figures showing Xbox is the only console in the marketplace to have experienced growth in the last half of the year 2003.

Xbox drove the market growth* of 2% during this period, as the only console brand to record growth. From July 1st to December 31st 2003, Xbox grew year on year by 10% while PS2 declined 1% and GameCube declined by 5%*.

This expansion of the Xbox presence was reflected in a surge in market share during the key Christmas months, where Xbox snapped up almost 40% of the market. During November and December, Xbox recorded a very solid 37% and 39% market share respectively.* Figures just released** show the share has again jumped to 44%, with Sony PS2 now holding 51% of the market, and Nintendo GameCube a mere 5%.*

This promising start to 2004 follows on from an impressive Christmas retail period for Xbox, which saw close to 115,000 units sold, with many retailers struggling to keep up with consumer demand.*** "Sales for Xbox were particularly strong this Christmas," says Peter Geer, Senior Buyer for Myer, Grace Bros and Megamart. "We had anticipated this consumer rush, so thankfully we were still able to meet this high demand".

According to Xbox regional manager David McLean, the strong Xbox market share reflects the brand’s growing kudos among consumers. �With less than two years in this market, these latest figures reflect how far we’ve come,� says McLean. “This consumer confidence shows the strength of our product offerings which have positioned Xbox as an entertainment unit with something for everyone.�

Now with over 300 games available for Xbox, the strength and diversity of the Xbox Christmas line-up has also been a crucial factor in driving this market success. Some of the best sellers this Christmas included: Need for Speed Underground, Rugby League, Lord of the Rings™ Return of the King™, The Simpsons Hit & Run™, Disney Pixar’s Finding Nemo, V8 Supercars Race Driver (Live) and Crash Bandicoot™ The Wrath of Cortex. Several games from Microsoft Games Studios were also amongst the best sellers, including Project Gotham Racing 2, Top Spin, Crimson Skies and Counter Strike.

“We have such strong games that appeal to so many different ages and tastes – from Music Mixer which allows you to turn the console into a karaoke machine through to Top Spin which lets you step onto centre court as our very own Lleyton Hewitt� says McLean.

Additionally, the appeal of the online gaming service Xbox Live which has so far outsold its competitor’s offering in Australia*, has also helped to steer this growth, with Xbox predicting that by June 2004, the service’s member base will have more than doubled to over one million users worldwide.

“2004 will bring us a host of new developments for consumers, so we’re confident this year will again be a huge year for Xbox,� adds McLean.

BTW, this is from Australian market so Xbox fans shouldn't get too excited...

[Psychogenics]

So Xbox sales grew 5%....Nintendo outsold the X during X-mas and PS2 reached 70 million shipped...MS success pales in comparison.

[Clashman]

Any clue what the *'s behind the "GC declined by 5%" and "Figures just released" mean, because these numbers don't seem right at all. GC at 5% overall???

Wait a second, this is Austrailia only? Well, Nintenedo probably won't worry about this too much until the console market in Austrailia gets bigger than Wisconsin's.

[rabidrabbit]

What is it with Australia?
I don't remember it had been considered as important market area as Europe, Japan and US before.

Even if one looks at the population, it can not be considered a major market area.

Population of Australia: about 20 million
versus
Population of Japan: about 127 million
Population of Europe: about 700 million (EU about 380 million)
Population of US: about 280 million
Population of Canada: about 31 million

Xboxs impressive sales growths seem to be often quoted from either Canada or Australia :?

[cthellis42]

<sigh> I really hate big deals made about small markets... Anyone think Canada's numbers should pre-empt the US's or all of North America's? :P Companies like nice PR points, but do not give us FUNCTIONALLY USELESS territories until the major ones have been covered first!!!

Crikey... :P

[london-boy]

Oxford Street (in London) probably sells more consoles than Australia.

(Ok, another bad Brit joke...)

[notAFanB]

Originally Posted by london-boy

Oxford Street (in London) probably sells more consoles than Australia.

(Ok, another bad Brit joke...)

sad thing is there's likelya ring of truth in it for certain systems.....

[bukima]

I'll never understand how something like this can be turned into "closing the gap".

It's good for Xbox that it did well, and managed to increase its year on year sales. PS2's dropped.

But PS2 still outsells Xbox everywhere, also in Australia. And as long as more PS2 are sold than Xboxes, surely the gap between the two grows.

You have 10. I have 100. I sell 10. You sell 5. Then I sell 8 and you sell 6, thus my sales decline and yours grow. Yet I still sell more than you and end up with 118, whereas you have 21. The gap grows.

[Teasy]

Its a little worrying for XBox that this is all MS has to shout about. To be absolutely honest this announcement strikes me as kind of pathetic.

[cthellis42]

I hear the N-Gage has great marketshare in Mozambique. :P

[ChryZ]

Memorable quote from the movie "American Beauty":
Buddy Kane: "In order to be successful, one must project an image of success at all times."

[Evil_Cloud]

Originally Posted by cthellis42

I hear the N-Gage has great marketshare in Mozambique. :P

Two out of ten?

[Paul]

Originally Posted by Evil_Cloud

Two out of ten?

I heard 3.. Then again I digress, what do I know.

[Lazy8s]

It's an Australian press release; it's at least interesting to hear how the manufacturers can handle and grow minor markets.

If someone's not from Australia, the market standing it describes is not expected to be a reality for them. It's not as if it's claiming to represent some worldwide phenomenon either; what's with the downplay? Common sense.

[Fafalada]

It's an Australian press release; it's at least interesting to hear how the manufacturers can handle and grow minor markets.

The only reason the minor markets are even reported is because respective company division wants to brag about their success there.
So no, it's not really interesting because we're mainly left with completely single-sided information for those markets, and that is always skewed in favour of the reportee (Aussie numbers from M$, Korean numbers from Sony etc...).

[Lazy8s]

Fafalada:

The only reason the minor markets are even reported is because respective company division wants to brag about their success there.

So? The only reason companies release sales PR for any market is to brag.

So no, it's not really interesting because we're mainly left with completely single-sided information for those markets, and that is always skewed in favour of the reportee (Aussie numbers from M$, Korean numbers from Sony etc...).

PR is always spun. Still, extracting small pieces of the picture from the nonsense is better than having no idea at all what's going on somewhere.

For instance, this article tells of comparative year-on-year growth for the specified period, it indicates Xbox sales volume (near 115,000) and the size of the general console market down there for the holidays (near 300k), and it reveals that the territory gets distribution for the great majority of Xbox titles.

[Fafalada]

So? The only reason companies release sales PR for any market is to brag.

It helps when they all do it (like in big teritories) - you get 3 points of view, if nothing else.

In territories where single PR dominates you won't exactly learn about what is going on with others. But I agree, it's not completely devoid of information.

[cthellis42]

Plus, it's just rather infuriating to see them all talking about specific territories for nice soundbites while being notoriously tight-lipped on multiple region and month breakdowns, and world overall numbers in particular...

Feel free to tell me about Australia... AFTER. Or along-with. I don't like "instead of." <grumbles>

[Qroach]

Deadmeat, why did yo bothe rposting this thread? nobody hear cares about austrailia.

Why bother to make this post. There was no reason to do it. THe next time you do this it will be deleted

[Jov]

Australia might be small, but 3 or 4 out of 5 top selling EBs are from Australia and we do buy a hell of a lot of games given the population.

Anyway, in regards to the article, its MS at its best. I think they should brag about it when they sell at least as much as PS2 here.

All you can draw out of this is MS is doing something better than Nintendo in this country.