Microsoft Kinect Blowing Away Competition So Far
Here's two things that Microsoft's promotional department would like you to know about its motion-sensing Kinect controller. 1) It's sold 10 million devices in just over four months, an average of 133,333 units per day. 2) It just officially made the Guinness Book of World Records for fastest selling electronics device, beating out Apple's iPhone and iPad. And here's one fact that went unmentioned, but of which Microsoft is undoubtedly aware (and, we suspect, pretty proud): Kinect sales also far surpass those of Playstation's similar Move device, and could challenge Nintendo's Wii for overall numbers shortly.
RELATED: Why Are Young People Abandoning Email?
When the Xbox attachment first hit the market last November, most of the pre-release skepticism was assuaged by its sales numbers. And then a funny thing happened: it kept on selling the devices at a furious pace. As noted by ReadWrite Web's Mike Melanson, Microsoft predicted these boffo numbers. "This is going to be stuff that'll blow away any of the sales you've seen with iPad," said Kinect spokesman Kudo Tsunoda at the time.
RELATED: Rupert Murdoch, Steve Jobs: 'Bromance For the Ages'?
After scouring the web to find some caveat that would diminish the achievement, we found one, courtesy of PC World's Matthew Peckham. "To be clear, that's units sold, not sold-through," he notes. "The distinction's ever-important, since it refers to Kinect sensors shipped to stores by Microsoft, but not necessarily plucked off store shelves by customers. The numbers are probably close, though, and I'm told Kinect sales through the holidays were pretty close to the company's undisclosed sell-through figures."
