Over the course of five years, Microsoft’s original Xbox video game console sold some 25 million units. Earlier this year, the company forecast that sales of its current Xbox 360 offering would surpass the 25 million mark by the end of November, 2008, and the CFO of Microsoft’s entertainment and devices division Mindy Mount re-iterated the prediction just last week. But now the company has confirmed privately that Xbox 360 sales have indeed surpassed those of the original Xbox. And there’s one big difference: the original Xbox took five years to reach the milestone, while the Xbox 360 did it in three years.
Tag Archive: Mindy Mount
Zune Phone On The Horizon?
By now many people are probably heartily sick of reading about the iPhone and its phenomenal success. If you’re one of them, you might want to coveryour eyes now. Speculation is rising that Microsoft might be considering a Zune phone, based around its digital mediaplayer, to go head to head with Apple’s latest success story. “It wouldn’t be unreasonable to think at some point there might be some integrated thing,” Mindy Mount, chieffinancial officer of Microsoft’s entertainment and devices division, told investors at Citigroup’s global technology conference. To be fair, the company has flip-flopped on its positionregarding a Zune phone. When the player was introduced last year, the company said the device was definitely among their plans. Earlier this year they said they wouldn’t be pursuing it.However, that was tempered by the statement that it could add music and gaming capabilities to its Windows Mobile platform. Windows Mobile has been one of Microsoft’s fastest-growing licenses, although it’s aimed largely at the business market. But if workers want business and personal capabilities on a singlehandset, a Zune phone would seem like a natural progression.

