The year head start in the next-gen console race for the Xbox 360 has always been seen as a major boon for Microsoft. Late to the party during the last console cycle, Microsoft leapfrogged its competitors this time around by releasing the Xbox 360 in November 2005. Nintendo and Sony released the Wii and PlayStation 3, respectively, in November 2006.

　　But while Nintendo and Sony trumpet sales in the hundreds of thousands--Nintendo says it sold through 600,000 Wiis and Sony has yet to give official numbers--Microsoft is looking toward sales of 10 million Xbox 360s by the end of this year's all-important holiday season.

　　The figure is nothing new. Five months before the Xbox 360 launched, Peter Moore boasted that Microsoft would sell 10 million Xbox 360s in the console's first year on market.

　　More than 17 months later, Microsoft appears to be sticking to that lofty number. Speaking at the NASDAQ analyst conference in London, Microsoft CFO Christopher Lidell talked about his company's future. While touting the upcoming launch of the Vista operating system, he said, "We also believe we can sell 10 million Xbox 360 units by the end of the Christmas season," according to the Wall Street Journal.

　　In the company's first-quarter financial report for the period ending September 30, 2006, Microsoft revealed that it had sold 6 million Xbox 360s worldwide. To reach 10 million sold, Microsoft would have to sell more than 1 million Xbox 360s per month between October and December.

　　Selling 10 million units before the competition is more than just bragging rights for Microsoft. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer earlier this year said the number could very well determine the winner of the next-gen console war.

　　Speaking about Sony's delay of the PS3 to this holiday season, Ballmer told Fortune, "In every other generation, the first guy to 10 million consoles was the number one seller in the generation. Did we just get an even better opportunity to be the first guy to 10 million? Yeah, of course we did."

　　[UPDATE] "I think that Sony's PS3 production issues, sales of Gears of War, and generally positive trends at retail are helping the 360," industry analyst Colin Sebastian of Lazard Capital Markets told GameSpot. However, Sebastian isn't entirely sold that the 10 million mark is right around the corner for Microsoft.

　　"Whether they hit can reach 10m units worldwide by December 31 (which is the timeframe I think they mean) depends in part on what happens at retail over the next three weekends, and also on what they can produce and ship before the end of the year. Keep in mind that Microsoft talks about shipments of units, not actual retail sales."