Analyst IHS Markit almost doubles its 2017 Xbox One X sales forecast

IHS Markit provides information and analysis to support the decision-making process of businesses and governments around the world. They're involved with industries like aerospace, automotive, defense and technology.

A few months ago the firm said that it expected the Xbox One X to sell around 500,000 units in 2017. Note, the console launched yesterday, November 7, 2017, so this figure only represents the expected sales figures for a little under two months. However, based off of the popularity of the product, IHS Markit is raising the estimates. Piers Harding-Rolls, director of research at IHS Markit, said the following in a statement on GamesIndustry.

Feedback on pre-order volume for both the limited edition Project Scorpio Xbox One X and for the standard version of the X console has led us to increase our 2017 sell-through forecast for Xbox One X. The Project Scorpio limited edition pre-order strategy has been particularly effective in driving what is expected to be a robust launch week in key sales territories. IHS Markit has therefore increased its 2017 forecast from 500,000 to 900,000 units... A small share of PS4 Pro gamers that are keen to have the most powerful hardware for playing third-party published games are likely to shift their usage across to the new console.

Many expected the Xbox One X to not sell that well given its $499 price tag. It's definitely great news for Microsoft that this firm and other analysts are raising their estimates. Hopefully we'll know exact sales figures later in January 2018 when the lucrative holiday shopping season is over. If this trend continues then Microsoft may have another winner on their hands like the Xbox 360.

The Xbox One X launched yesterday and it's the most powerful console ever made. The device features 6 TFLOPS of processing power and 12 GB of GDDR5 RAM. In addition to that, the Xbox One X also contains a 4K Blu-ray player and offers a faster hard drive. It's still available immediately on the Microsoft Store.

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Asher Madan

Asher Madan handles gaming news for Windows Central. Before joining Windows Central in 2017, Asher worked for a number of different gaming outlets. He has a background in medical science and is passionate about all forms of entertainment, cooking, and antiquing.