According to the sales figures revealed by Microsoft at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show more than eight million Kinect sensors have been sold since its release on November 4, 2010. That figure is noticeably higher than the five million unit forecast the company had predicted to sell during the sensor's first 60 days.
The wild ride to close out 2010 capped the "biggest year ever" for Xbox, said David Dennis, group public relations manager for Xbox. Over the holiday season, console sales for the Xbox 360 hit 50 million. It also was the No. 1-selling console in North America over the past six months.
"It used to be you would go buy this piece of plastic and put it under your TV, and five years later it's the exact same thing that you bought at the store," David Dennis said. "I think Microsoft has shown the ability to innovate and bring new experiences like Kinect as well as Netflix, Hulu, and ESPN, all leveraging Xbox LIVE, to continue to reinvent what you think of as the Xbox. You turn it on, and we continue to update it, keep it fresh, and bring new features."