Data: Microsoft's Xbox 360 shortage claim

Microsoft last week blamed lingering Xbox 360 shortages in February for its second straight third-place finish in the NPD Group's monthly U.S. console sales data. The company is hoping to head off any suggestion that the Xbox 360 is losing steam in its competition against Sony's PlayStation 3. Microsoft says the shortages were caused by higher-than-expected Xbox 360 sales over the holidays. To help assess that claim, here's a comparison of Xbox 360 sales during the 2006 and 2007 holidays

[kalistyles]

It sounds really fishy to use that as an excuse. I'll give you my reason too. 1. Those four months from Nov. 06 to Feb. 07 they sold 2,165,000. From Nov. 07 to Feb. 08 they sold 2,515,000. Now thats a difference of only 350,000. You would think that there only being that much of a difference from those months in different years they should have plenty in stock. There was no talk of this in the previous year. 2. I can only think that the amount of call backs on consoles being sent in for repair that they are somewhat losing out on production to repair so many units being sent in. There is no way they should have a shortage so bad like that unless they are selling them like hotcakes like the Wii. I mean the PS3 outsold them last year and so far this year and is far ahead of the 360's selling outlook if you put them head to head. So like I said, this excuse sounds really fishy to me.

[Milkman541]

"Right now, you can go into retail and find an Xbox (360) pretty much everywhere, today," Greenberg said. "But we don't consider ourselves fully in stock today because there are retailers who want to buy more consoles from us, and we're unable to supply that."

Umm ok...That is an interesting way to think you have a shortage...

[TheExecutive]

well I think he was meaning as of today there isnt a shortage consumers will notice, not that they ever did anyway.

but yeah this shortage crap is just that, crap.

[wow4u]

*TODAY*

@1.1

Did you read the article? Look at the lead up to 2007. Then Xmass 2007.

They have a 25% jump year over year, that they didnt expect. And, they've said October was very strong.

So, MSFT tells you the situation. This article basically shows the demand jumped proving the point, and you're basically just refusing to believe?

Can you elaborate with some *REASON* or *LOGIC* or *DATA*?

[psiom]

Yes. Logic. Easy.

2007 towards the end of the year was widely praised as one of the best years of gaming in history, due almost entirely to strong, high quality Xbox360 titles.

Believing that MS had no idea they would move more consoles at that time relative to 2006 is tantamount to believing they are braindead morons.

Do they expect good games to boost console sales, or not? If they do, then they clearly can't have been surprised by the sales. If they don't, well, then they might as well stop securing exclusive content.

[uxo22]

That was not logical, if so then why didn't the PS3 have a shortage being that they sold a lot less during the 2006 holiday season prior. Should they have produced fewer consoles than they or just just a few more than they did in 06?

These companies use forcast and input from retailers to determine the demands. There is no true way of knowing what your figures are truely going to look like ahead of time so that have to estimate. So believe it or not, it's actually possible for a company to mis-forcast the upcoming demand. Look at nintendo, the appear to have miss they're forcast every month since launch...lol

[psiom]

They don't simply use retailer data.

Microsoft secures exclusive games in order to boost the console base as well as get great games sales figures.

the latter half of 2007 was a crescendo of gaming excellence for their platform, yet this apparently had zero influence on forecast? Come on dude, where is your belief coming from? Is it because Microsoft said so?

[cmrbe]

Sony could only produce at most 2million console during holiday 2006. If they produced more they could have sold more console in holiday 2006.No way on Earth Sony would forcast their 2007 comparing to 2006 when they were having manufacturing problems in 2006. Its a different situation for the x360 and PS3 in 2006.

[TheExecutive]

n4user... i still dont believe that it took them 2 months to produce enough consoles to fulfill a demand. Especially when you consider they have been producing the console for over 3 years.

But hey, i could be wrong and we will find out this month if I am.

[The Lazy One]

Retailer demand is not the same as consumer demand. M$ reports it's shortages, not the shortages of the retailers. If you go to the store and there are 2 consoles on the shelf that doesn't look like a shortage to you.

If that store has those two consoles with 3 in the back, and they want to order 10 more, and M$ only has 7, that's still a shortage. You might never notice it because there's always 2 on the shelf, but if they still want to order more than M$ has, it's still a shortage.

[XiaoSet]

All I have to say.. "[email protected]"

[meepmoopmeep]

no shortage of propaganda.

ok, the shortage isn't for the consumer but the retailer? wtf?

[Breakfast]

Thats a pretty random site to find video game news on.

[Obama]

The shortage is clearly a lie, as the sales of the two consoles are still very close right now in the US. Ps3 outsold the 360 in Feb because blu-ray has just prevailed at the time.

"The timing "was a little suspicious," said Michael Pachter" This loon is finally right this time.

[Danja]

I mean the 360 is still selling good..i dont see why MS needed to created FUD becuase the PS3 outsold them..I mean wasn't this expected ne ways..?

[Harry190]

complain now.or will they.

[wow4u]

Ive noticed you trying to be reasoned here on N4G with the mindless hordes. Dont bother. They dont listen to reason or care about reality.

They've got their preferred world-view and they just reject anything that doesnt fit that chosen world-view.

[uxo22]

Once again, you seem to be one of the few people remaining on this site with a sense of reason. If you have an XBL account you should message me your gamertag so I can add you to my friends list. You seem to thing a lot like me. lol

[Raptors]

Add me too: kingkongjay

I refuse to be brainwashed by the blu ray monster's master. I don't know what happened to this site but I know that the words "neutral", "fair" or "reason" no longer exist here.

[marcdz1]

Microsoft is just using old tactics about the shortage. They are trying to create hype before GTA comes out. They just want to act like everyone want's and Xbox 360 . They also were in the process of redesining their console to include either the HD-DVD add on or wanted to start putting some bundles together. It was the-same for Sony since they just started selling the 80gb in a bundle. This is all it is. To think otherwise would be foolish. My local Best Buy and Wal-Mart's have had them since January.

[wow4u]

Microsoft didnt write this article.

The guy is just showing you the big increase in Demand in Nov. & Dec '07. That caused the shortage.

Its a little pathetic really. You guys getting all excited because the PS3 outsells the Xbox 360 for a couple weeks.

When you manage to make up that 10M gap, then maybe you'll have some room to brag.

[Asurastrike]

This article uses the 24% sales increase this Holiday season to support the shortage claims, but the 360 launched Halo just months before, how did they not anticipate a large increase in sales?

[PSWe60]

There's no shortage. Anyone saying otherwise is a plain liar and probably stupid

[wow4u]

Care to provide some evidence for your statement? This article pretty much tells you you're wrong.

Did you read the article? Do you have access to MSFT's POs?

[tplarkin7]

I was forced to buy an Arcade Pack last month because all of the Premiums and Elites were gone from my area. I went to 4 different stores and none of them had Premiums or Elites.

There was a shortage in my area.

[DRUDOG]

Damn, tplarkin. Why didn't you just order an elite/premium then?

[poopface1]

and still have no Idea that there are 3 different ones. I believe the shortages were of the Elites, which everybody wants, and the pros not the arcade. My roomate got one over winter break and he had to get the ugly halo one cause he couldent find the elite or the pro. While I dont know that the shortage was that serious I DO ACTUALLY KNOW PEOPLE WHO COULDENT GET THE ONE THEY WANTED and think that sales most defiantly would have been better had they had more elites or premiums instead of alot of arcades. But really I dont care if they have a shortage or not and it seems that alot of people just want to cry "microsoft is lyers, buy a PS3." Time to get the memo that the only thing thats going to get ps2/xbox1 users(me duh) to get a ps3 is GAMES. Not RROD, not microsoft lying, and not 360 shortages(my roomate had a ps2 only and got an ugly, really fuc&ing ugly, 360 over a ps3).

[sig7332]

Even fanboys know that this is a PR fabrication.

[wow4u]

Apparently award-winning technology writers disagree with you.

READ THE ARTICLE.

[c-redz]

^^^ do you believe everything you read!!! if i can go to any of my 300 local stores and find a x-box then i really dont think there is this massive shortage... Thats all the evidence i need.

[JD_Shadow]

More like N4Loser.

It's nice to know that you blast people for having a different opinion than your own. And that you wasted all your bubbles doing so (NOTE: GIVE ME BUBBLES, PEOPLE, PLEASE!! :) )

And it's obvious that you're the one that didn't read that article, because you're saying that it HAS to be a shortage, it HAS to be what Microsoft said it was because you said so, they said so.

Look at the figures for 2006-07. They was no shortage claim THERE, and they had alot of holiday sales then, and they still were able to eclipse the PS3 there. It the exact same scenario. Only now the PS3 is ahead in sales. There's no reason given, though we can expect the main reason why: There is a stronger lineup of games slated for 2008 on the PS3, and no one thinks (outside of the 360 fanboys and whoever believes Bitbag and Joystiq) that the GTA4 episodes will stay permanently 360 exclusive. Oh, and don't forget that MGS4 will be giving the PS3 legs, too.

One more thing, too...the Wii has had shortages since the day it came out. Yet they continue to post staggering numbers every month. Care to explain why THAT system CAN do that with shortages but the 360 can't?

[Sevir04]

So now it's retailers that want more than they have to supply? LOL!!! I mean really? I would have believed them if this was post holiday 2006 sale, because the 360 totally domniated holiday 2006 and the month on end. and they had software droughts and such with gears being the real console seller. but this was fine and dandy because they were out selling sony's next gen. Now come 2007 holiday and yes the demand was raised by 25% but they still sold less in 2007 than they did id 2006, so how the hell do you come out of a strong 2006 selling well domniating all year long with no shortages what so ever, all your manufacturing issues with console supply a thing of the past, going through 2007 selling well with an amazing line up of software which was it's pinnacle and sold amazingly in september and october with Halo 3, and bioshock, and PGR4, and COD4 and still end up selling 7.5 million just 3 million shy of last years Total with 10 million in that same period, only to end up with shortages in 2008 from your sopposed strong selling period?

After being in the market a year ahead of everyone with time to work out your supply constrainst. but since sony suddenly started out selling in the US it's a shortage. The last strong hold you had went under 2 months straight and you call it a "hollow victory" because your supply chain wasn't up to par, yet you sold 3 million less in 2007 verses than 2006, with better software than the competion this year than last year?

I think MS had a shortage alright, they had a shortage on Good excusses, because this is totally unsounded and is a pure and true example of a sore sore looser.

Own up to loosing, Sony has been doing that for the longest since this gen of Hardware start, and now they are turning the corner and beating you and you wanna say "My Pu$$y hurts" now when you were winnig all along.

Please explain MS why we never got that Shortage response from you when Nintendo totally lapped you and became the fastest and best selling console, was it because you arent competing with them and sony is who you are going after or is it because you were still selling better than Sony at the time the Wii eclipsed your sales and then passed you out?

Shortages are to reflect demand with you selling more and running out. Sales would have increased as the Wii has been doing consecutively since it's time on market. as it stands the only Console on shortages is the Wii and we can see that because they're are weeks when they less than the PS3 and then get bolsted by nintendo the following week.

It's as I've been saying those who want the 360 are getting it, But they also want a PS3 more than ever, Things have just changed for that to take place, it's cheaper, it's more reliable and it's software this year is far more amazing than MS's 2007. Not to mention it's due to get even more affordable this year, and the recent victory over the rival HD format. People want quality and they are seeing what was once too expensive is now in better reach for their desired entertainment.

I just wish MS would say ok we are behind so lets ensure our software offering can make a better dent in what sony is doing and suck it up.

[Clinton514]

You heard it here first, MS is stocking up to inflate April hardware/GTA IV sales.

;)