News
Microsoft Sets Guinness Sales Record with Kinect
- By Chris Paoli
- March 10, 2011
The forecast for Windows Phone 7 devices may by tepid at best, but Microsoft is having considerably more success with the other major consumer product it released during the same period -- the Microsoft Kinect.
The Xbox 360 add-on for motion and voice control sold over 8 million units in its first 60 days, confirmed the Guinness Book of Records on Wednesday. That pace makes Kinect the fastest-selling consumer electronics product in Guinness' history.
"The sales figures here speak for themselves," said Gaz Deaves, editor of Guinness' 2011 Gamer's Edition. "We can confirm that no other consumer electronics device sold faster within a 60-day time span, an incredible achievement considering the strength of the sector."
Since its release in November 2010, Kinect has averaged a record 133,333 devices sold per day, unseating both the iPhone and the iPad from the top spot for this category. To date, Microsoft has sold 10 million Kinect systems, the company said on Wednesday.
While the Kinect's use has been primarily focused on gaming and entertainment, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer recently used the device to demonstrate how businesses could process information and communicate in a virtual setting without physically interacting with a computer. Ballmer said that the same technology found in Kinect will soon come to personal computers and mobile devices.
"You can imagine how the technology behind Kinect...can be harnessed and applied anywhere, from a classroom to an offshore platform to a conference room," Ballmer said during a Wednesday keynote speech at the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston. "This is just the beginning, and personally I can't wait to see where it goes.