Xbox 360 saw record breaking Black Friday sales

by Dustin Burg { Dec 2nd 2008 at 9:45AM }

Even with a less than stellar economy, all of last week's Black Friday deals had a positive effect on overall Xbox 360 console sales as Microsoft reports record breaking sales numbers.

According to team Microsoft, the 360's U.S. Black Friday weekend hardware sales were 25% higher than last year's numbers and software sales were equally strong. "We entered into the Black Friday sales period with cautious optimism" admitted Microsoft's Don Mattrick, adding that "record Black Friday sales in the US, coupled with our existing global install base of 25 million and an online community of more than 14 million Xbox Live members, have laid the groundwork for continued global sales momentum in 2009." Epic win!

Tags: black-friday, microsoft, sales, xbox-360

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Dadidito @ Dec 2nd 2008 10:01AM

People were fighting over them in walmart... kind of figured they were selling well. Congrats. Waiting for Pure. Bought from Amazon yesterday for 20. Couldn't resist.

Brian @ Dec 2nd 2008 10:09AM

XBL Gold / Netflix HD / Media Center is amazing. It's no surprise the 360 is the king in the entertainment center for people with no interest in buying $30 bluray movies.

360 ftw.

DBoyFlex @ Dec 2nd 2008 10:24AM

I don't think Blu Ray will last long. Standard DVDs will, but we seem to be leaning toward alternate formats for HD movies etc, kinda like streaming netflix style. I do love the features the xbox has to offer. It is quite a step up from the ps3 in terms of versatility.

agentflashx @ Dec 2nd 2008 1:05PM

@DBoyFlex: Though I recognize where you are coming from, I think you are a bit off there.

As there are still many people who prefer physical discs that streaming/downloading. I don't own a Blu-Ray player but if I did, I would rather have the physical disc than just a digital copy of it. Why? Because I like to be able to hold my purchases, or have some sort of a "collection" per say. Though I use Netflix, and certainly would use them for Blu-Ray if I had the opportunity, I would still by physical Blu-Ray discs of my absolute favorite movies that I knew I would watch over and over again.

So perhaps Blu-Ray will never get as popular as standard DVDs, just because the average of the masses do not care about the extra fine quality of HD movies but those who do, I really think most would rather have a physical disc copy.

Brian @ Dec 2nd 2008 2:29PM

What a piece of crud comment system. I wrote a long response, and it didn't post. It didn't send a verification to my email... it just disappeared. This has happened multiple times today. Rubbish.

Rick @ Dec 2nd 2008 2:48PM

Being versatile in HD options is certainly a big factor.

I was an early adopter of HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. HD-DVD is dead, and Blu-Ray is sub-par. While i enjoyed lossless audio, the compression used and codecs on a majority of BR discs were horrible. A few companies managed to do it right, WB being one. Watch talledega nights, the grain, my god. Grain, artifacts. Just because it's in a higher resolution shouldn't mean its HD if it looks like s***.

I'm not saying HD-DVD, netflix HD, or HD content on marketlace is immune to this. I rented Atlantis (yes the disney movie) on marketplace, and i was surprised how insane the quality was(tho animated usually always looks amazing in HD). Also pleasantly surprised with how The Office looks in HD on netflix, which i have yet to compare but looked better than on marketplace at highest speed quality.

Microsoft gives us options. Everyone calls them evil but you have to give them props for what they do.

KC @ Dec 2nd 2008 10:50AM

Most of these sales were probably people buying a new console after theirs went RROD. :-)

With my junk box currently at MS for a fixin', I was at Wally World too, looking for the elusive Jasper. No luck so far.

I'll be selling my repaired Elite and putting the money towards a new Arcade console.

Perno @ Dec 2nd 2008 11:27AM

Congrats on your impending downgrade. i know I would rather have no hard drive with no room to dowload tons of demos and videos.

/sarcasm

I'll be keeping my Elite TYVM.

KC @ Dec 2nd 2008 11:42AM

Well my Elite crapped out in October, I got sent a replacement Elite on 11/4 and that one crapped out on 11/19. I'm awaiting the repair on that one as we speak. Thanks but no thanks. And good luck with that. /sarcasm

BTW, I'm keeping the 120gig HDD when I sell it. I'll sell my old 20gig HDD with it. This is all assuming I can find a Jasper. I will take my chances with the latest possible technology inside as opposed to the continued cycle of crap that MS will send me after each breakdown.

I'm too invested to give up on the 360 all together and I'm too addicted to it to not be able to play it every 4 weeks. TYVM.

Cardbored @ Dec 2nd 2008 12:52PM

your 360, your not using it right. If you got RROD in about 2 weeks, maybe your the problem and not the 360. My first one ran a good 3 years and my second one has been running like a champ ever since.

KC @ Dec 2nd 2008 2:34PM

Consider yourself extremely lucky then. My electronics are better taken care of then my own body! :-) My 360 sits on top of a stereo cabinet with nothing at all around it. The power brick, same thing. I don't have all day gaming sessions either.

The problem is MS sends you someone else's headache. Or just fixes your headache and it doesn't last. It sucks cause I love the 360 but it just wasn't designed well. I have stereo equipment that's much older and it's still going strong.

Dion @ Dec 2nd 2008 11:36AM

thats all fine and dandy, but i am still having a problem with my new 'blades' not showing up. All that shows up for me is Friends and My Xbox. There are no error codes on the database and not much help from microsoft. All i was told was they were "looking into a workaround and/or solution." My best guess is network issues because i am on a school campus, but i didnt have a problem before NXE.