Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT): Xbox One End-Year Sales Top 3 Million

Boston, MA 01/08/2013 (wallstreetpr) – Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) launched its latest games console Xbox One, late last year on November 22. The company registered sales of about 2 million in the first two weeks of the launch. This big sale indicated that the future of the console is bright.

Now the company says that it closed 2013 with more than 3 million Xbox One sales. Xbox One costs about $599 a unit, and features powerful graphics, speed and entertainment unlike the older models.

Xbox One is vying for video game console market against Sony’s PlayStation 4. Sony launched PS4 a week later after Xbox One, and sold about 2 million units within two weeks after the launch. However, there no sales figures were disclosed for the end-year sales of PS4. Sony’s PS4 costs about $549 per unit.

Microsoft’s Xbox One is sold in about 13 countries, including the U.S. and Australia. Time of release of this updated game console worked positively for its overwhelming sale.

Graphic chips

Both Xbox One and PS4 run on Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD)-made chips. AMD provides semi-custom chips used in the devices and earns about $100 on every device sold. This offers an opportunity for the struggling semiconductor company to raise additional revenue. AMD has been locked out of many chip markets by the might of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) which is big in PC, server and graphics chip market.

Shifting focus

Of late Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has been shifting its focus away from PC. Going into console was a big gamble for the company, given that many people nowadays play games on smart phones, however, Xbox One seems to be cracking the password and the company is upbeat that games console could well be one of its reliable revenue sources.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is also venturing into Smartphone business. It recently acquired Nokia’s devices segment for about $7.2 billion. This acquisition not only will turn it into an overnight smartphone maker, but also allow it access to some of the top technologies in mobile communication.