According to Chart-Track, the Microsoft Xbox 360 saw a 40 percent sales jump in the UK following the Europe-wide price cut last week.
Says Chart-Track director Dorian Bloch, “Xbox 360 is up 35-40 percent - that’s from Friday, when the price cut came into effect, up to midnight Saturday.”
“Now it’s a question of Easter,” he noted. “The real litmus test will be over the next three to four weeks – it’s too early to read too much into it at this stage.”
The data also showed that software sales remained about the same, but more interestingly that the PS2 saw the largest sales surge. “The greatest surge was on PS2,” Bloch said. “There was a lot of price promotion going on, with certain titles being well and truly flogged. It’s now the calm before the high point of Easter.”
On March 14th, Microsoft slashed prices on all models of the 360 in Europe seeing the Arcade, Premium and Elite versions falling to GBP 159, GBP 199 and GBP 259, respectively. The price dropped the Arcade model to an even cheaper price point than the better selling rival, the Nintendo Wii.
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According to the latest figures from Chart-Track, the Microsoft Xbox 360 is very close to hitting 2 million units sold in the UK. The figure, when hit, will be a big milestone for the console.
Thanks to a sales spurt brought upon by the Easter season and recent price cuts, the console is now in fierce competition with the PlayStation 3 in the territory.
Dorian Bloch, director of UK sales monitor Chart-Track, added, “We are very close to clocking through 2 million 360s in the UK. It should be next week.”
The 360 originally launched in the UK in December of 2005 and reached the 1 million sold milestone after 60 weeks. The PS3, which was launched in ther territory in March of 2007, hit 1 million sold last month.
“The Xbox 360 is extremely well liked in the UK and very strong,” added Bloch. “Sony has a long way to go to overtake it in the UK.”
