This is more of a small comment aimed at the 4.3million number being bandied about by Microsoft for it's holiday Xbox 360 sales. I'm... not buying it.
Keep in mind that over the past 7 years of operation (2001-2008) Microsoft has had to restate it's actual sales numbers for the Xbox consoles... 6 different times... when taxes came due. Fact is, Microsoft has outright lied before about the sales numbers for their consoles, with a long history of inflating retail sales. Why should I then, believe that the numbers reported for this holiday season to be accurate? I can't, and I'm willing to bet that when Microsoft gets around to telling government tax agencies how many were actually sold, we'll be looking at a drastically lower figure, 25% or more given the history of Microsoft's finance department.
Also, don't think that Microsoft might actually tell the truth this time, since it did accurately report numbers of Xbox consoles moved once. Keep in mind the Vista debacle in which more evidence is mounting on just about each day that Vista was a complete and total disaster. The stated numbers for Vista penetration by Microsoft are in high doubt, with both vendor and retail evidence suggesting that Microsoft may never have made the 20million install rate first claimed.
With both those tidbits in mind, that Microsoft has actively lied about sales figures in the past on the Xbox, and that Microsoft seems to be in the middle of lying about how well Vista is doing, such a high number of Xbox 360 sales seems... preposterous. Sure, it would be nice if Microsoft actually did move that many consoles. On top of market confusion with the PS3 and the inability of Nintendo to meet demand, the Xbox 360 may well have had a good Christmas. It just isn't likely.
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