"Over half" of 360 owners didn't own Xbox 1 - Microsoft

Microsoft's Chris Satchell has revealed that "over half" of the people who have bought Xbox 360 since its November 2005 launch did not buy an Xbox 1.

"We've sold 10.4 million, but the stat you may not have heard is that over half of those sales are from people that didn't own an Xbox 1," Satchell told GamesIndustry.biz in an interview published today.

"So there are lots of new people coming in, which kind of surprises you. What we're actually finding is that our customer set is broadening, which we think is important."

That's a view shared by Nintendo which is seeking to broaden its target demographic with the DS and Wii rather than simply selling more games and systems to existing fans.

However Satchell's comments are likely to be questioned in some quarters because Microsoft has already publicly admitted that the 10.4 million consoles sold haven't all been purchased by consumers.

Speaking to GI.biz at CES, Xbox boss Peter Moore said that in the context of its own figures, "'Sold' means that we're a wholesaler of hardware and we sell it to a retailer, and that's the important criteria."

Meanwhile, recent NPD Group figures put Xbox 360's US installed base at 4.5 million, with Wii at 1.1 million and PlayStation 3 finding its feet with around 690,000 US owners by the end of 2006.

Whatever the real figure is, the fact that Microsoft is claiming "over half" as new consumers is set to cause concern amongst its console rivals. It's also likely to surprise those commentators who have argued that Xbox 360's early success is down to enthusiasm from the 24 million existing Xbox 1 owners.