Microsoft States Xbox 360, Zune Ship Goals

Microsoft says it expects to have shipped over 10 million Xbox 360 game consoles to retailers by the end of 2006 - and expects to sell a million Zunes by mid-2007.

The world’s largest software developer, Microsoft Corporation, said today it expects to have shipped over 10 million Xbox 360 game consoles to retails by the conclusion of the 2006 end-of-year holiday season. And moer surprisingly, the company said it expects to sell a million of it’s not-well-received Zune music players by mid-2007.

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 predictions are in line with previous statements the company has made: the numbers actually indicate the number of units sold into retail channels and inventory, not units actually purchased by customers. Microsoft is touting that up to 160 high-definition games should be available for the Xbox 360 platform by the end of the year.

Microsoft’s sales goal for the Zune media player might seem ambitious, but will put Redmond’s first entry into the portable media player market far, far behind the iPod, which sold nearly 40 million units in the twelve months leading up to September 2006. However, by mid-2007, it’s reasonable to expect Microsoft will start marketing Zune players to international markets (it’s currently only available in the U.S.) and possibly begin announcing followup Zune devices.