Xbox 360 Sales Down "Inline with Overall Market"

Microsoft has announced a worldwide 12 per cent drop in shipped Xbox 360 consoles year-on-year - a number that is "in-line with overall market decline." The company also shipped 8.8m units during the first nine months of fiscal year 2010, compared to 10m during the same period in 2009.

The figures come in an earnings report that suggest that the effects of the economic recovery is still having an impact on the games industry. An internal presentation that documents Microsoft's entire business earnings for the Q3 2010 period echoes this.

Apparently it's not all bad news for the hardware manufacturer, as there seems to be a magical number floating around the internet - 40 million. This is the supposed number of worldwide sales that the Xbox 360 has enjoyed since its launch in September 2005.

The only problem is, there's not one document - official or otherwise - that actually supports this claim. Sales units are completely absent from both the earnings report and the presentation that accompanies it.

Maybe you can help us solve this mystery - Secret Squirrel style - by voicing your thoughts in the comments box below. Until then though, you can take that 40m number as complete speculation.