October 11, 2005 - Even after X05 Microsoft has been candid concerning a number of aspects of the 360 launch. As of now, market analysts are the best source of information concerning manufacturing numbers and price points as we head into next year. It was reported on gamesindustry.biz this morning that the firm Wedbush Morgan Securities has recently published a survey that speculates what Xbox 360's sales numbers will look like in 2006. The firm states that by next year over 2.5 million consoles will be sold in both the US and Europe. With 1.5 million Xbox 360s sold in the States with the rest being sold just across the Atlantic.

This data assumes that the final consoles have been in production since August. It also assumes that Microsoft has been churning out 100,000 consoles per week and that this number will rise to 150,000 as we near December. To combat Microsoft's early push into the next generation Wedbush Morgan states that Sony will drop the price on PS2 to $149.00 on or close to the 360 launch. Xbox 1 will most likely stay at the same price due to high manufacturing costs.

Gamers who pick up an Xbox 360 are expected to leave the store with two games and snag two more titles over the next two months. Consumers are expected to purchase the same amount of software for the launch of PS3 and Revolution. Xbox software sales will reach 380 million by the end of 2005. In all, hardware sales will rise from 35 million this year to 40 million next year.

Most of these statistics are promising concerning Microsoft's new system. Barring a major manufacturing oversight this would put the company is a competitive position over the next year. We'll have more solid information regarding Microsoft's launch plans as we near the US release date of Xbox 360 on November 22.