Analyst: Kinect pre-orders had to be capped by retailers

By Johnny Cullen

M2 Research Analyst, Billy Pidgeon, has told IG that Kinect pre-orders were so high, retailers had to cap them

Pidgeon also said that as long as Microsoft keeps manufacturing Kinect units to be shipped out for christmas, it’ll keep selling.

“I think Microsoft will sell as many Kinect as can be produced and shipped this holiday season. If five million Kinect are available at retail in North America and Europe, five million will be sold,” he told the site.

“I understand that pre-orders were very aggressive, to the point where these had to be capped to allow for sufficient stock.

“Kinect will move new Xbox 360 consoles, but I believe at least half will be sold into the installed base. Here’s an interesting scenario: a tactically deployed Xbox 360 price cut could give Kinect the capability to accelerate penetration to the point where Microsoft could gain a large mainstream user base while still leveraging a very active hardcore base.”

Last Wednesday, Microsoft upped its projected christmas worldwide sales numbers of Kinect from 3 million up to 5 million.

After its US launch on Thursday, Kinect launches on Wednesday in the UK and Europe.