Microsoft hopes to sell 1.5 million of its new Xbox video game consoles in the first three months after its planned March 14th, 2002, European launch, a senior company official said today.
Microsoft is a newcomer to the global games market, with its Xbox taking on Nintendo and Sony's Playstation 2.
"We are capable of building 1.5 million units for the launch and we'd be very, very happy to sell all of those," said Mr Sandy Duncan, Microsoft's Vice-President for Xbox in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Mr Duncan said the launch price for the Xbox in Europe would be around €479 ($426.2), in line with the price of Sony's Playstation 2 at its launch 18 months ago.
Singapore-based electronics manufacturer Flextronics International is building the Xbox at Sarvar, near Hungary's border with Austria, and at a plant in Mexico.