Report points to Xbox 360 shortage

"Europeans scrap over just 300,000 boxes

Speculation abounds that only 300,000 Xbox 360s will be making their way to Europe for the launch of the console on 2 December.

In a weekend interview with German financial publication Euro am Sonntag, Chris Lewis, Microsoft's regional vice president (EMEA, Home and Entertainment Division) is quoted as saying that analyst predictions of 300,000 Xbox 360s being shipped to Europe on launch day "were not far removed from reality."

Lewis continued, saying that it's possible the Xbox 360 will sell out on launch day in much the same way as it did on the day of the US launch on 22 November, when all units were sold out within two hours of stores opening.

The majority of Irish retailers have been running pre-order campaigns for the next generation Xbox console over the past few months. A spokesperson for Microsoft Xbox in Ireland, told ElectricNews.Net that demand for the console in Ireland is huge and that at this stage retailers have probably stopped taking pre-orders in the run up to Christmas.

Unfortunately for those who have not pre-ordered, the Microsoft spokesperson said it would be "unlikely" that consumers would be able to get their hands on an new Xbox before January.

"What consumers who haven't pre-ordered should do is maybe check out the smaller retailers like Peats and Toymaster, who may not have been running pre-order campaigns and could have a few on the day," advised the spokesperson." [more]