Taiwan-based electronics manufacturer Wistron, one of three Xbox 360 manufacturing partners, has announced that it is increasing production of Microsoft's next-generation game console, as well as laptop computers and other products including servers, targeting one million units of Xbox 360 consoles manufactured per month by year end, according to a Wall Street Journal report. “We are now expanding the manufacturing base for the Xbox in the southern Chinese city of Zhongshan,” said Wistron Chairman Simon Lining. He also indicated that the company hopes to reach a total capacity of 30 million units over all its products by mid-2007. If successful, this announcement will further aid Microsoft in not only meeting customer demand for the Xbox 360, but will also increase the console's installed base, in preparation for the launch of both Sony and Nintendo's next-generation platforms later in 2006. Assuming that Wistron meets its projected monthly goal of one million Xbox 360 consoles, when added to the consoles produced by the remaining two manufacturing partners, Microsoft could see well over a million consoles shipping to retail globally each month, around the time that Sony launches the PlayStation 3, the platform considered by many to be the Xbox 360's closest competitor in the next-generation console race. Sony has promised around one million units per month of PlayStation 3 for its November 2006 worldwide launch window. Wistron also announced that it was increasing production of its laptops because of increased demand. “We are revved up to double the (production) volume at the company's Kunshan factory in central China,” said Lining. Wistron primarily makes personal computers for branded vendors, including Dell and Hewlett-Packard.