Winstron aims to produce 1m Xbox 360s a month

Contract electronics manufacturing firm Winstron Corp has announced that it aims to boost its production of Xbox 360 consoles to 1 million units a month by the end of the year in order to meet Microsoft's requirements.

The Taiwanese firm, which also produces a variety of other computer products such as laptops and servers, is planning to expand its manufacturing facility for the Xbox 360 in the Chinese city of Zhongshan.

The Wall Street Journal reported the boosted output plans this week, citing Winstron chairman Simon Lining as stating that the increase to a million units per month was being undertaken "to fully support our customer" - namely Microsoft.

Winstron's boosted capacity is another indication that Microsoft is continuing to ramp up production of the Xbox 360, presumably in an attempt to capitalise on its one-year head start on Sony in the next generation console marketplace.

The greatly increased manufacturing capacity for the console will undoubtedly help to ensure that retail channels remain well-stocked over the coming months, but more importantly, may allow Microsoft to stockpile inventory for the holiday season.

That would mean that while the PlayStation 3 is likely to be in short demand around the world in November and December, there would be a plentiful supply of Xbox 360 hardware - giving Microsoft the chance to capitalise on the many consumers who will undoubtedly be disappointed in their efforts to buy one of Sony's new consoles.