MS on track to sell 10m Xbox 360s by the end of the year

Microsoft's chief financial officer, Christopher Liddell, has declared that the company is still on track to sell 10 million Xbox 360 units by 2007.

The 10 million target was mentioned as early as May 2005 by Peter Moore, and other Microsoft execs including Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer have repeatedly confirmed the company's commitment to hitting that figure.

Speaking at a NASDAQ conference this week, Liddell said, "Revenue growth will continue to be a strong focus for us... And we have had two major product launches which will help.

"We also believe we can sell 10 million Xbox 360 units by the end of the Christmas season," he confirmed.

According to Microsoft's latest financial report, 6 million Xbox 360 units had been sold around the globe as of September 30.

Back in March, following the announcement of the delay to the PlayStation 3 launch, Ballmer observed, "In every other generation, the first guy to 10 million consoles was the number one seller in the generation."

Microsoft will doubtless be looking to capitalise on shortages of the Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 3 in North America this Christmas. In Europe Microsoft will have only Nintendo to compete with, as the PS3 isn't due to arrive until March next year.