Digital Trends

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates says his company expects to ship between 4.5 and 5.5 million Xbox 360s by June, and will make an HD DVD drive for the game system.

Doing his part to stave off consumer complaints about the availability of the new Xbox 360 gaming console during this past holiday season, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said in his keynote at the 2006 CES show in Las Vegas that his company expects to ship between 4.5 and 5.5 million Xbox 360 systems by June 2006. The shipping estimate was re-affirmed by Xbox exec Peter Moore.

By June 2006, Microsoft also expects more than 50 Xbox 360 games geared for high-definition TV systems will be available.

Gates also announced Microsoft plans to deliver an external HD DVD drive for the Xbox 360 in 2006. The new drive would enable Xbox 360 owners—who may then number in the millions—to view HD-DVD movies. Initially, the HD DVD drives for the Xbox 360 will apparently not support games, but will enable greater interactivity than that anticipated for stand-alone HD DVD players, such as looking up details on a film's cast while the movie is playing.

To date, the Xbox 360 is estimated by a Goldman Sachs analyst to have sold 1.3 million units worldwide, missing initial sales estimates by more than 25 percent, but confirming pre-launch sentiment that Microsoft's Xbox 360 rollout would be relatively slow due to production capacity limitations, then ramp up during 2006 as more production comes online and additional game titles are released.