Xbox ready to rumble

Microsoft expects to sell up to three million Xbox 360 video game machines in the first three months of its release, adding US$1.5 billion ($2.18 billion) in revenue and attracting customers from Sony's PlayStation 3.

"The number of units they sell will be critical", said Michael Goodman, an analyst for Yankee Group in Boston.

"There's more than enough demand to meet three million. The question is whether there's enough supply to meet that demand."

Microsoft plans to begin selling the new game platform from November 22 in the United States and days later in Japan and Europe, opening the latest round in a battle with Sony for a larger portion of the US$18 billion video games market.

A spokesperson for Xbox in New Zealand said its exact release date here will be announced on November 22. The release is expected in the first quarter of 2006.

There will be enough units on hand to satisfy demand, Bryan Lee, chief financial officer of the company's home and entertainment unit, told a Harris Nesbitt investor conference this week at the Grand Hyatt hotel in New York.

- BLOOMBERG