Microsoft May Top Forecast to Sell 10 Million Xboxes (Update2)

Dec. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp., competing with new machines from Sony Corp. and Nintendo Co., may exceed its forecast to sell 10 million Xbox 360 video-game consoles by the end of the year, Vice President Peter Moore said.

Asked whether Microsoft is likely to beat the outlook, Moore replied ``Yes. All indications are that we came off a very strong Thanksgiving holiday.'' Moore, in an interview today, declined to provide a new forecast.

Microsoft's Xbox has a one-year lead in the U.S. market over Sony's PlayStation 3 console and Sony has had difficulty getting enough of them in U.S. stores to meet demand. Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, has more games available and the Xbox costs $300 to $400 compared with $500 to $600 for the PlayStation 3.

``They key is we're in stock, we're available, we're delivering well to retail,'' Moore said. ``Certainly the consumer is recognizing the fact that we have a great price point as well as 160 games available and that flies in the face of our competition.

Shares of Microsoft fell 20 cents to $29.13 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. They've risen 11 percent this year.

To contact the reporters on this story: Fred Fishkin in New York at ffishkin@bloomberg.net; Dina Bass in Seattle at dbass2@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Emma Moody at emoody@bloomberg.net.