Microsoft is Struggling on the Japanese Market

While Microsoft representatives claim that Xbox 360 sales worldwide are within the company's forecasting and that the console perform is performing well, the reality on the Japan market seems to be different. On Sony territory, according to market researcher Media Create Co. Ltd., Microsoft sold a total of 1,897 units of Xbox 360 in the last week of June. In the same period, Sony's sales reached no less than 23,133 units. It appears that Microsoft has succeeded only in beating Nintendo which sold only 1,002 units.

"Globally we are doing very well but Japan has always been tough," said Darren Huston, president and chief executive officer of Microsoft's Japan unit, Microsoft Co. Ltd., at a company event on Thursday. "We launched early and with not enough Japan-specific content," he said.

"In the end of March and April through June we've had many good titles coming out," said Takashi Sensui, general manager of Microsoft's Xbox division in Japan. "RPGs (role playing games) are one of the biggest game segments in the market [in Japan] but it's taking a lot of investment to make large-scale RPGs."

The home market of Sony Computer Entertainment's PlayStation console revealed that not only was Xbox 360 outsold by PlayStation 2 but also that more than 70% of surveyed gamers said that they will wait for PlayStation 3 rather than switch console.