As Microsoft Corp.
MSFT.O ramps up production of its upcoming XBox video game console this
week, game publishers and some analysts have started to question whether the
company can make its target for the number of units available for the November
launch. Microsoft has previously said it would ship 600,000 to 800,000 consoles
when it launches the new system on Nov. 8 in the United States and between 1
million and 1.5 million by year-end.
But the software giant will not know how many of its forthcoming XBox
consoles it will have available on the much-heralded launch day until production
at a plant in Mexico hits full capacity, a spokesman said on Wednesday. "We
won't know real, day-one quantities until we're at peak production," said James
Bernard, a Microsoft spokesman. "We're really being cautious about our day-one
quantities." The XBox is still on track for its Nov. 8 launch, Bernard said,
adding hat the company told retailers last week that the console was about to
begin production.
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