Analyst: PS3 Squeaks by Xbox 360, Wii Supplies Flat in August

NPD's official August 2008 sales numbers hit later this week, but for today, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter has some intriguing prognostications about the PS3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo Wii.

For starters, Pachter's August 2008 predictions claim Sony's PlayStation 3 (225,000) inched past the Xbox 360 (200,000) for the second month in a row by about 25,000 units. Last month's NPD numbers for July 2008 showed the PS3 with 20,000 more units sold than the Xbox 360, 225,000 versus 205,000 respectively.

Why the continued slow 360 sales? "Tempered Xbox 360 demand...in anticipation of the September price cuts," says Pachter.

And while Pachter estimates the Wii moved a respectable 550,000 units in August, he says the "console sell-through forecasts reflect our belief that supplies for Wii hardware were flat this month.

Software sales growth has been "extraordinary" according to Pachter, who lists sales up across the board on a monthly basis...

+12% in January (with one less week)
+48% in February
+64% in March
+69% in April
+41% in May
+61% in June
+41% in July

With all the economic scaremongering, "are-we or aren't-we in a recession" talk, and today's news about the stunning government (read: taxpayer) bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, it's nice to see Pachter acknowledging that "the video game software sector remains highly recession-resistant."

Overall video game console sales for August 2008? $600 million, predicts Pachter, up 23% over last year's $489 million for the same period.

Comments

Post a comment Post a comment

0 / 1000 max characters