Microsoft: Xbox Takes Price Cut Lead
By Greg Tarr -- TWICE, 8/19/2002
REDMOND, WASH. — Sales of Microsoft's Xbox surged 131 percent in the first two months after a $100 price cut was announced, according to NPD FunWorld market research.
Microsoft cut the price on the game console in May to $199 — a move that was also made at about the same time by Sony on its PlayStation 2 and later bested by Nintendo, which cut the price of its GameCube console to $149.
Despite the other price moves, Xbox reported the largest growth numbers in the period, NPD FunWorld said.
Xbox also sold more than 10 million units of software worldwide in the first eight months of its U.S. release. The number was said to be the most software sold by a new video game system in that period of time.
Microsoft said that two Xbox titles have surpassed the one-million sold mark. Microsoft Game Studios ' "Project Gotham Racing" and Tecmo's "Dead or Alive." The previous Xbox million-unit seller was "Halo: Combat Evolved." Microsoft cited International Development Group (IDG) research in stating Xbox was the first console to achieve worldwide sales of over one million units on three different launch titles in less than eight months on the market.
Microsoft plans to expand distribution of Xbox into new territories this year, including Korea, Hong Kong, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan.
