Xbox Down Under Celebrates Its Best Ever Year

Xbox down under celebrates its best ever year

Xbox LIVE enjoys record growth as Kiwis embrace online entertainment

AUCKLAND, 20 January 2010 – Xbox LIVE is firmly establishing itself as New Zealand’s entertainment hub as a growing number of consumers adopt online services as their entertainment medium of choice. Over the past calendar year, Australians and New Zealanders made 8.3 million purchases through Xbox LIVE, Xbox’s online entertainment service, an increase of more than 72 per cent on the previous year’s record 4.8 million.

ANZ subscribers to Xbox LIVE grew by more than 50 per cent year-on-year (YOY), with the service now registering numbers of more than 450,000 across the ANZ region. Xbox LIVE customers in Australia and New Zealand spent more than 136 million hours on Xbox LIVE in 2009, a YOY increase of more than 36 per cent.

Frazer Scott, business director – entertainment and devices division, Microsoft NZ comments; “Xbox 360 continues to deliver new and compelling entertainment experiences through its Xbox LIVE service. The introduction of our Movies on Demand service in November, which offers HD movies streamed direct to television, has particularly resonated with our customers. The service was accessed by more than 100,000 subscribers in its first eight weeks alone.”

“We’ve invested significantly in building our local Xbox LIVE community and the ANZ market now supports one of the biggest LIVE communities anywhere in the world. Subscribers can also access popular social networking sites through Xbox LIVE such as Facebook and Twitter, which have been specifically optimised for the living room ‘big TV’-style viewing experience. The growing demand for online services sets us up particularly well for the future, as online entertainment continues to surpass all expectations and clearly demonstrates the growth opportunities that exist in the ANZ region.”

2009 also delivered an increase in ANZ console sales of more than 12 per cent YOY and revenue growth of more than 13 per cent YOY for the company. More than 950,000 Xbox 360 consoles now take pride of place in lounge-rooms across the ANZ region, with nearly half of these connected to the Xbox LIVE network.

The Xbox 360’s attach rate (software purchases per console) continues to be a great measure of success, with Xbox continuing to enjoy the highest attach rate of any next generation console across Australia and New Zealand.

Scott closes; “As we look ahead to the coming year, we expect 2010 to be the year of the Xbox, with the release of our strongest ever games line-up, including the highly anticipated Xbox 360 exclusives; Mass Effect 2, Fable 3, Alan Wake, Crackdown 2 and probably the biggest title of the year, Halo Reach.”

ANZ facts*

• More than 450,000 Australian and New Zealand homes are connected to Xbox LIVE

• More than 136 million hours were spent on Xbox LIVE in 2009 – a year on year increase of 34%

• More than 950,000 Xbox 360 consoles have been sold in Australia and New Zealand

• Nearly 100,000 Australian and New Zealand Xbox LIVE subscribers connected to Xbox LIVE Movies on Demand in the first eight weeks

• Xbox 360 enjoys the strongest attach rate of any next gen console. Third-party publishers also sell more copies of blockbuster titles, such as Call of Duty; Modern Warfare 2, in the Xbox 360 format.

ENDS

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