Xbox 360 Now at 19M Units Worldwide

The Xbox 360 hardware has sold over 19 million units worldwide since its 2005 release, according to the latest financials from console maker Microsoft.

Rival console manufacturer Nintendo revealed yesterday that its cheaper Wii hardware has sold over 24 million units since late 2006. PlayStation creator Sony Computer Entertainment has not released any recent worldwide sales figures of its hardware.

Across the fiscal quarter that spanned January 1 to March 31, 2008, Microsoft as a whole reported a revenue of $14.45 billion. Of that, $1.56 billion came from the Entertainment and Devices division, the branch responsible for the Xbox and Zune music player brands, among others.

Taking operating costs, but not taxes or other expenses, out of the sum, the entire company was left with an operating profit of $4.4 billion, with the Entertainment division responsible for $89 million of that.

During the same time period last year, the Entertainment and Devices division brought in $936 million in revenue and posted a $324 million loss. This quarter's leap was mostly attributed to the strong performance of Xbox 360 hardware, Xbox 360 and PC software, and Xbox Live services.