The Xbox One, the first official video game console to launch in China in 14 years, has started its console life in the middle kingdom with a bang! According to Chinese news sources, the Xbox One sold over 100,000 units within the first week of sales.
According to Chinese video games news site 17173, during an interview with the press, Shanghai Media Group vice-president Zhang Dazhong let slip that the Xbox One sold over 100,000 consoles. 17173 says that the number includes pre-sales from when the console first went on pre-order.
17173 reports that Zhang and Shanghai Media Group, the parent company of Microsoft's China partner BesTV, aims to sell over 1 million Xbox consoles in China by this time next year.
Since the news reports of consoles initial sales, Chinese news sites such as 17173 and Sina news have come out with headlines that speculate if the Chinese market is the saviour for the Xbox One in Asia. The console has been reportedly struggling in South Korea and Japan.
Kotaku has reached out to Microsoft for comment on the numbers and will update when possible.
The Xbox One was released in China on Monday September 29, two days before China's week long "golden week holiday." On top of the news regarding the number of sales, Chinese news site iFeng.com is reporting that since the console's release, Microsoft is also offering post sales service for import Xbox Ones. This kind of warranty service is similar to what Apple offers to its customers in China.
微软业界良心 水货Xbox One也有售后服务了[iFeng.com]
中国市场是唯一救世主？Xbox One日韩皆遇冷[Sina Games]
国行Xbox One首日销量破10万 一年目标100万[17173.com]
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Eric is a Beijing based writer and all around FAT man. You can contact him @FatAsianTechie@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @FatAsianTechie