It appears as if the new Xbox 360 Slim has helped surge Xbox 360 sales in unexpected ways.  The recent boost was initially assumed to be because of the redesigned Xbox 360.  However, the numbers show that these are mostly attributed to the discounted first generation 360’s.  Retail outlets have been marking down units in order to make room for the new hardware that is flooding the market and they have been flying off the shelves.

[The] Xbox 360 Slim introduction [was] underappreciated – could accelerate 360 sales more than Kinect. With all the talk and buzz around Kinect, Move and 3DS, we believe the announcement of the new Xbox 360 Slim may have gotten a bit lost in the shuffle. With a $50 price cut on existing 360 systems (Arcade at $150, Elite at $250), and the new Slim on store shelves next week, we believe 360 sales could accelerate meaningfully, much like the PS3 did last fall following its Slim introduction. Since the launch of the PS3 Slim, unit sales are up 71% YoY in the U.S.”

- Todd Greenwald, Signal Hill Analyst

Europe and Japan, in particular, have shown an affinity to the newly designed Xbox 360.  GAME and Gamestation stores across the U.K. have “seen amazing demand for the new version of this ever-popular console.”

The Xbox 360 Slim has made something of an impact in the Japanese market; last week sales of the console hit 17,370 units, with 15K of those being the new slim model. The redesign has helped boost sales of the Xbox 360 by over 800%.”

Granted that Nintendo and Sony still rule the gaming market in Japan, it is still a success for Microsoft.  It could also be a precursor to a shifting of power in the Asian console market.  Only time will tell as the new Xbox 360 moves out of its infancy period.

Some even predict that the new Xbox 360 will have a larger impact for Microsoft than the highly touted Kinect.  The reasoning may lie in the very high price point for the new Microsoft peripheral.

Keep in mind, all these new peripherals will take time to catch on.  Even if they are successful, the initial installed bases will be relatively small for quite some time (<5 million), making it hard for publishers to generate any real revenue off them, especially as software prices will be lower than they are for core titles.”

[via Industry Gamers]