Xbox 360: 1.6 Million Units by End of '05?

Respected video game analyst, Piper Jaffray's Anthony Gikas, based on figures from a Forbes story, has concluded that by year's end Microsoft will ship a total of 1.6 million Xbox 360's: 1 million in the US, 400,000 in Europe, and 200,000 in Japan. Gikas also expects that there will be about 15 launch titles and 25-40 games by year's end, for US and Europe. In Japan, there will be about 10 launch titles and 15 games by year's end. Gikas also guesses at a two-tiered price structure for the console with the base model set at $300 and a bells and whistles model (bigger HDD, extra controller, etc.) at $400. Retail price of games will be $60. Analysts expect the Xbox 360 to ship on time (mid-November) to the US and Europe and perhaps a few weeks later to Japan.

Interestingly enough is the fact that Sony's PSP has been repeatedly delayed in Europe and is currently scheduled for a Septemeber release. Push that back a month or so and you may have some direct competition. Obviously, Sony wants to get the aging PSP into the hands of European gamers as the handheld has been out for some time now in the US and Japan. However, it will be a tough choice for many a gamer seeing as the price point is about the same. For my money, I'd take the console any day.

There is no prognosticating, as of yet, regarding whether Microsoft can continue to pump out the console or if we'll see shortages after the initial shipments. We do know, based on anecdotal evidence, that many retailers are no longer accepting pre-orders of the Xbox 360, or have stopped taking pre-orders for a period of time (story).

Oh, the times they are getting exciting! Only a few months to go!