Microsoft's (Nasdaq:MSFT) Xbox 360, Kinect on Fire

Microsoft has been getting a great image boost from the sales of Xbox and Kinect this Christmas season, as Xbox leads in console sales and Kinect soaring to top the accessary heap.

As far as Microsoft's (Nasdaq:MSFT) bottom line, this isn't that important, as it may account for maybe two percent of revenue, or a little more.

What's most important is the bragging rights and reminder that Microsoft can still develop hot products for the consumer market. It's worth its weight in marketing gold to the company, just by the numbers they produced, which also include four other accessories in the top ten of the console market.

Canaccord said, "According to data compiled by NPD, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 was the best-selling game console in November, with sales up 68% from last year. More than 1.37 million Xboxes crossed the counter last month, ahead of Nintendo’s Wii at 1.27 million. Sony’s (NYSE:SNE) numbers were relatively dismal, with the PS3 recording sales of just 530,000. The Xbox 360 had five of the 10 best-selling accessories on the month, with the Kinect landing at number one. Microsoft launched the Kinect on November 4, and had sold 2.5 million units by the end of the month – twice the initial selling rate of Apple’s (Nasdaq:AAPL) iPad. In just one month, the Kinect is already the top-selling accessory in terms of dollar sales on a year-to- date basis. NPD said the Xbox 360, paired with the Kinect, is setting the tone for a promising end of year. Last month was the best November on record for the industry, beating November 2008 sales by about $30 million. Every category was up except portable hardware and software. 'We expect a big jump in sales in November due to seasonality and the influence of holiday, but the change this November over October is bigger across most platforms than it was last November,' commented one NPD analyst. 'This could point to the impact of aggressive retail promotions during the critical Black Friday week.'"

Microsoft closed Monday at $27.25, down $0.09, or 0.35 percent. Sony was at $35.88, up $0.05, or 0.14 percent. Apple ended the day at $321.67, up $1.11, or 0.35 percent.