Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg has claimed that Xbox 360 has "nearly twice" PS3's installed base - partly because its lack of a Blu-ray drive allows it to be sold at a more attractive price point.

The Xbox product director claimed that "being $100 cheaper [than PS3] is part of the reason we're nearly twice their installed base".

It's likely he was referring to Xbox 360's North American installed base, with 360 and PS3 widely reported to be neck-and-neck in Europe.

"Sony bet on the physical disc, and there are costs associated with that," Greenberg told Edge magazine.

"The fact that we're able to offer a console starting at $199 is a benefit of not being burdened with that cost."

He added: "For us, our bet was on digital distribution, that was the future - the ability to [play] 1080p movies with no disc, no download required; we have the largest movie and TV library, the largest HD library of any console."

His comments come after Microsoft's director of Xbox and Entertainment Stephen McGill told CVG the firm had "no plans" to adopt Blu-ray drives into 360.

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