Since last August, Xbox Live has grown by another 5 million members to 40 million in total worldwide, helping to grow Microsoft's second quarter financial earnings in the Xbox division by 15 percent from the previous quarter. So, what did the Xbox division pull in between October 1 and December 31 (its financial "Q2") in terms of actual dollars? About $4.24 billion, says the company in its latest financial earnings statement. Not too shabby!

"In addition to the continued strength of our commercial business, this holiday season was the strongest in Microsoft history, thanks to good sales execution and compelling products like Xbox 360 and Kinect," Microsoft COO Kevin Turner boasts in the release. He's echoing numbers reported by Microsoft just last week during the company's final Consumer Electronics Show Ballmernote, wherein the company announced record sales numbers for the Xbox 360 across 2011, but most especially during the holidays.

Perhaps more notably, the keynote was where no one mentioned a word about any upcoming Xbox 360 successor, despite rumors indicating as much. With numbers like these, though, it's a bit more understandable why Microsoft isn't looking to replace its big seller just yet.