Microsoft projects 16 million Xbox sales by 2004

The firm said it made a net profit of $1.92 billion on turnover of $8.07 billion for its financial fourth quarter which runs to the end of the 30th of June.

The revenues for the the entire financial year amounted to $32.19 billion, up 13% from the same period last year, the net profit amounting to $9.9 billion.

Sales of server software rose by 17% quarter on quarter, year on year. Microsoft said Windows Server sales grew by 24% and SQL Server by 34%.

The firm claimed that its Home and Entertainment business showed eight per cent sales growth over the prior year. It said it had sold 9.4 million Xbox consoles across the world, and will sell between 14.5 million to 16 million Xboxes by the end of its next financial year.

It also said it has over 500,000 subscribers for its Xbox Live online service. µ