Kyle Orland
In March, Microsoft Xbox Group Program Manager David Dennis told Ars that Kinect is the kind of thing that “once you turn it off, a lot of people will say, ‘Gosh, I really liked that, I got used to it, and I’m going to missing it.” Dennis seems to be mistaken, as Microsoft announced that Xbox One US sales more than doubled in June compared to May, following the availability of a $400 Kinect-free version of the system.
Microsoft didn’t elaborate on specific sales numbers in its announcement, and the company didn’t publicly disclose US sales for May, so a doubling could mean Xbox One sales jumped from “very low” to “bigger but still low” . Microsoft had sold 5 million Xbox One units to consumers around the world by early April, a number that far surpassed the Xbox 360 at this point in its lifecycle, though it still lagged behind the PS4’s 7 million sales around the same time.
Microsoft also didn’t break down what portion of the higher sales came from the cheaper Kinect free bundles, which means it’s technically possible that a lot more people suddenly decided last month to buy $500 Kinect bundles just to get some reason (maybe they’re just really looking forward to the upcoming Dance Central game?) Microsoft also still hasn’t announced that a standalone version of Kinect 2.0 is available for Xbox One, so those going for the $400 route should buy the peripheral second-hand if they decide they really want to play Kinect Sports rivals straight away.
The simplest explanation, of course, is that many consumers were waiting for an Xbox One system to be truly price competitive with the PlayStation 4 and weren’t too keen on paying extra for the “revolutionary” features of Microsoft’s camera and microphone array. It may have taken Microsoft a while to figure this out, but the instant increase in revenue shows that the company is reaping the benefits of that new knowledge.