UK sales of Xbox 360 up 1,000% thanks to new SKU

Microsoft Europe boss Chris Lewis has said UK sales of Xbox 360 are up a whopping 1,000 percent over last week, thanks to the console's new SKU.

Speaking with GI.biz, Lewis attributes the surge to price cuts on older Elite and Arcade models, along with the slimmer console revealed at E3, providing Microsoft with an 84 percent share of the market.

"It's only a couple of days of sales, but it does further enforce the appetite that people have for the Xbox 360, and excitement for the 250GB slimmer, quieter version," said Lewis.

The slimline Xbox 360 runs £199 in the UK, while the Elite sells for £149 and the Arcade £119. Lewis did not provide a break down in percentage of the different SKUs.

It was announced by Chart-Track yesterday that sales for the redesigned console were higher than Sony's release of PS3 Slim, as well as the slimmer PS2.

Lewis' "1,000 percent" comment is similar to the comment Chart-Track boss Dorian Bloch made to VG247, when he told us PS3 Slim sales were over 1,000 percent in the UK at launch last year.

Microsoft today announced a 4Gb Xbox 360 slimline for £149.99, which can also be purchased in a bundle with Kinect plus one game for £249.99 come November, when Kinect will also be made available with Kinect Adventures  for £129.99.