Xbox 360 to Pull Ahead of PS3 at Xmas

A slide accompanying Activision Blizzard's second quarter earnings announcements quotes hardware figures using data from Gfk, NPD and Charttrack.

Quite simply, this is what Activision Blizzard expects to see in terms of global console ownership at December 31st this year are as follows; the install base as of 30th June 09 are in round brackets; the estimated increase for calendar year 2009 according to Activision Blizzard's slide (see screen shot) is in square brackets:

Xbox 360: 33 million [9m] (27million).
PS3: 20 million [7m] (16 million).
Wii: 50 million-plus [15m] (40 million).

So, according to ActiBlizz the Microsoft console (adding nine million units) will outpace Sony foe (adding seven million units) by two million units in terms of growth.

Of course, CEO Bobby Kotick has already stated that he's thinking about dropping support for PS3 - and these figures have come before the announcements of a price cut for the PS3 'Phat' and the introduction of the PS3 Slim. Both the events are guaranteed^* to happen according to several thousand reliable yet anonymous single sources from all corners of the Internet.

^{* We are using irony and sarcasm.}