Kinect Sells 18 Million, Heading To Windows In February

In their final keynote speech at CES this year Microsoft announced that Kinect has sold an impressive 18 million units since it launched back in November 2011. Amazing numbers for any device, let alone a peripheral launched this late into the console generation. Microsoft were also pleased to announce strong Kinect sales on the back of the Xbox 360's strongest year, having sold 66 million units worldwide in total, trumping the Wii to become the best selling console in North America.

They also announced at the event that Kinect For Windows, unveiled late last year, will be available in limited quantities from February 1st in 12 countries (United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Spain, United Kingdom) for a suggested retail price of $249.99.

Included in the price is the slightly updated Kinect for Windows sensor, which includes a shortened USB cable to ensure reliability across a broad range of computers and the inclusion of a small dongle to improve coexistence with other USB peripherals. Of particular interest to developers will be the new firmware which enables the depth camera to see objects as close as 50 centimeters in front of the device without losing accuracy or precision, with graceful degradation down to 40 centimeters. The price also includes a one-year warranty, access to ongoing software updates for both speech and human tracking, and continued investment in Kinect for Windows-based software advancements.

Check out the full Microsoft blog post on the Kinect For Windows announcement. We can't wait to see how smaller developers make use of Kinect in innovative and unique ways, and hopefully we'll all have a chance to check out some Kinect For Windows applications once the Windows Store launches with Windows 8 this year.

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Kinect Sells 750,000 In One Week

Xbox just had its biggest week of sales ever having sold over consoles in the U.S. during the Black Friday week, over 800,000 of which were sold within 24 hours on Black Friday itself according to Major Nelsons blog. Such sales are almost unprecedented for any console, let alone one entering its seventh year.

Kinect was no slouch either, selling over 750,000 in the same period. Clearly interest has not waned since its record breaking sales last holiday, and it's a great sign for continued support from developers.

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Kinect hardware outsells Move 5:1; Software 13:1

The first round between these two motion rivals is over and it's a knock-out in favor of Microsoft's Kinect. Industry Analyst Pachter had this to say:

"About one fifth of PS3 sales included bundles with Sony’s Move controller, suggesting a modest third month (we have chosen not to subscribe to peripheral data). About half of Xbox 360 sales included bundles with Microsoft’s Kinect peripheral, as Xbox 360 Kinect console bundles outsold PS3 Move console bundles by 5:1," Pachter said.

"Microsoft announced that it has shipped 8 million Kinect units since launch (in November), which was raised from its earlier goal of 5 million. More significantly, in our view, the top two selling Kinect software titles outsold the top two Move titles by over 13:1."

What does this mean for us gamers? If these sales are anything to go by then Kinect should be receiving generous 3rd Party support. Let's see if the trend continues in 2011.

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Kinect Dominates UK Sales Charts

First week sales results are in with Kinect taking 5 of the Top 10 Xbox 360 sales chart. It looks like RARE might finally have a hit on their hands with Kinect Sports followed closely by Dance Central from Harmonix.

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision Blizzard)
2. Kinect Sports (Microsoft)
3. FIFA 11 (EA Sports)
4. Dance Central (Microsoft)
5. Motion Sports (Ubisoft)
6. Fable 3 (Microsoft)
7. Fallout: New Vegas (Bethesda)
8. Halo: Reach (Microsoft)
9. Fighters Uncaged (Ubisoft)
10. Kinectimals (Microsoft)

Even in the All Formats chart Kinect Sports does really well. It debuts at Number 4. With Dance Central at Number 13 and Motion Sports at Number 15.

Software isn't the only thing affected by Kinect.

Console sales have also been bolstered by Kinect. The 360 has been outselling the PS3 and Wii for the past few months now but with the launch of Kinect sales more than doubled last week. So this will extend the lead even further. It looks like that 500 Million marketing budget is paying off.

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Kinect Already Going Big in Resale Market

EscapistMagazine.com reports:

Consumers are already willing to pay well over the retail price of Kinect just to get their hands on one right now.

Microsoft's current Kinect sales figures haven't been released yet, but the resale market is showing that there's a strong demand for the device. Analysts looking at the resale market for Kinect have found that people are already paying a premium if they can't find it in stores.

Kinect's $150 retail price was a bit higher than expected, but apparently this doesn't matter to many consumers. Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian says: "Our survey of completed transactions on eBay indicates that Microsoft Kinect, the motion sensing controller for the Xbox 360, is selling for an average price of roughly $190, or nearly a 30 percent premium over the retail price of $150."

Thanks Laurence for the tip!

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