Xbox 360’s Netflix Feature Passes One Million Installs in Three Months

Back in May of 2005, Time magazine published a wonderful article on the just announced, not-yet-released, Xbox 360.  In the article, the author was able to sit down with Bill Gates and go behind the scenes of the 360 before it was launched later that year.  One of the primary goals that Microsoft had for the 360, other than turn a profit this time around, was to use the console as an all in one media platform at the center of the family’s entertainment center.

With Netflix’s announcement yesterday of one million installations by Gold Live subscribers in just three months time, it would appear that Microsoft is one step closer to becoming the “all-in-one” media hub that they envisioned the 360 being many years ago.  That’s a lot of users in not too long of time.  Not only is this quite the cash cow for Netflix, but Microsoft has given users a very nice capability for free (subscription fee excluded).

If your like me, you signed up, grabbed a few shows and have since let your subscription either sit idle or you cancelled it.  We don’t have any numbers stating the amount of users who signed up simply because there was a free trial, but even if half of the one million users still use the service on a monthly basis, this is a health stream of income coming in for Netflix and one more reason why the 360 has the edge on becoming the true center of family entertainment.

Netflix Chief Marketing Officer Leslie Kilgore said in a statement, “Netflix continues to provide its 9.4 million subscribers unprecedented convenience, selection, and value. With more than 100,000 titles on DVD and 12,000 movies and TV episodes available to watch instantly, there’s no better way to enjoy movies than Netflix. As these strong results on Xbox demonstrate, Xbox LIVE is a terrific way for Netflix members to enjoy watching movies instantly on their TVs.”