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May 16th, 2008 @ 13:23
Wedbush Morgan’s Michael has issued a research note exclaiming “surprise” at sluggish 360 and PS3 console sales in April. Both machines came in well under his previous estimates.
“We were surprised by relatively weak PS3 and Xbox 360 sales, especially given the launch of Grand Theft Auto IV late in the month,” he said. “We had expected sales of both consoles to increase month over month, as we thought that many potential console owners were waiting for the game to launch before purchasing a console.”
The NPD figures for last month showed that 188,000 360s were sold in the US, compared to Pachter’s 275,000 estimate; and 187,000 PS3s were sold, compared to a predicted 290,000 from the analyst.
For all our April NPD coverage, hit this.
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May 16th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
…and compared to his original estimate of 500k PS3s and 350k 360s. Good job that man!
May 16th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Downturn in sales at beginning of annual summer drought shocker.
May 16th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Take a look at the simExchange estimates (in brackets through the link). What a complete joke.
May 16th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
“Man, I don’t know shit.”, he didn’t add.
May 16th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Next month’s predictions will have the PS3 outpacing the 360 again… and he’ll likely understate the Wii. It’s how he rolls.
May 16th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
He’s right far more than he’s wrong, seriously. Also, see above
May 16th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Is it me, or does it seem that he predicts PS3 sales over 360 all the time…just out of curiousity, how many times was he right about that?
I dunno, im sure SimExchange has been more accurate. Correct me if im wrong
May 16th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Pat: Those are for his stock / share / company earnings predictions… he’s one of the best in the business for that. He still can’t predict console sales for shit.
In fairness it’s not part of his job though really.
May 16th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Here we go, then - sales are rubbish, market is saturated, time to cut the prices:
http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10527&Itemid=2
May 16th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
I think we will see more of an impact in the May results. It looks like people were waiting for the game to come out before they went to buy a new console.
May 16th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
So why did they decide to wait an extra week AFTER the game came out?
May 16th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Came out on a tuesday did it not? I imagine most console sales would happen at the weekend. Or is that accounted for in the data?
May 16th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Blerk: There’s no way Sony and MS can cut their prices indefinitely. They don’t have the market share (and associated income from games sales) to support it.
Spiral: Saturday is included in the figures.
May 16th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
Fairy muff. I haven’t a clue then.
May 16th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
For Sony America at least, I’d expect June to be better. Metal Gear Solid 4 is released alongside two very desirable hardware bundles (the gunmetal grey limited edition 40GB and the 80GB + dualshock 3 pack).
I know if I was living in America and looking to buy a PS3 in the near future, I’d be waiting for those.
Microsoft though… am I right in thinking the US hasn’t had a price cut to match the one we had in Europe not so long ago? If that is the case then yeah, I can see Xbox 360 prices falling a little more.
Sony, I think, will try to hold out for September.
May 16th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Killerbee: You’re right, the 360 in the US hasn’t had the price cut that the Europeans got. Sony have said in their earnings conference that they’re focussing on profitability rather than market share so I’d be surprised if they cut their prices any time soon.
May 16th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
That’s right - the 360 price didn’t drop in the US, but then it didn’t really need to. It might now, at least by a nominal amount. Or they might do new bundles or something. Throw in a Bourne T-Shirt or something.
May 16th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
I’ve heard Bourne T-shirts give you the perfect tool… or something like that.
May 16th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
Pachter will come back next month and say the PS3 will outsell the 360. It’s not just what he does, I believe it’s what he’s paid to say. The man is constantly wrong. I seem to remember him saying the Wii would slow down after that first Christmas. He seems to think the PS3 will make a comeback with every major new release. “After Heavenly Sword’, ‘After Drake’,'After Ratchete and Clank.” He said the 360 would be in third place by now. I would love to know how much Sony of America stock his company pushes. If analyst told the truth about every stock, most would fall through the floor. Sony has lost over 5 billion on the the development of the PS3 and Blu-Ray and the analyst just don’t want to say that because it might cause more problems then Sony already has. Imagine what happens to Sony stock if Sony came out and said that Blu-Ray is failing, we spent billions on developing the cell and Blu-Ray and there doesn’t seem to be any possibility that we will ever get that money back. Sony stock would plummet. Pachter is protecting his company.
May 16th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
Conspiracies!
May 16th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
Pachter is a Sony shill! Internet proof!
May 17th, 2008 at 1:02 am
It’s true I tell you.