Analysts disagree over hardware sales forecasts for February

February has drawn to a close and in a few days’ time we’ll be seeing how well the industry is doing once the NPD group releases their numbers. In the meantime, it’s time once again for industry analysts to place their bets on the winning console. Check out the full article for the forecasts of video game industry analysts Michael Pachter and Jesse Divnich.

The NPD group will be releasing the hardware and software sales for February in a few days. January held a few surprises, including the PlayStation 3 outselling the Xbox 360 for the first time. Analysts disagree whether the same will hold true for February though.

Industry analysts Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan and Jesse Divnich of simExchange have given their predictions for the February numbers. They seem to have disagreements not only in sales figures, but in the relative success rate of each platform as well.

The DS, whose sales have been slipping in Japan, remains Pachter’s favorite for February, while Divnich has lowered his expectations on the handheld. As for the PS3-360 race, Pachter favors the Sony console, while Divnich prefers Microsoft’s.

However, they do agree that the Wii will still be selling more than both of them. Pachter is betting on Blu-ray’s success over HD DVD to spike PS3 sales, while Divnich believes that the “stalemate” between the PS3 and 360 will continue on ’til April.

On the software side of things, both agree that Devil May Cry 4 will dominate the charts, with Lost Odyssey close behind. (Not surprising, really.) Here are their hardware sales predictions for the month of February:

Michael Pachter’s predicted numbers:

DS: 350,000 units
Wii: 300,000 units
PS3: 260,000 units
Xbox 360: 250,000 units
PS2: 245,000 units
PSP: 225,000 units
GBA: 1,000 units

Jesse Divnich’s predicted numbers:

Wii: 450,000 units
DS: 450,000 units
Xbox 360: 285,000 units
PS3: 270,000 units
PSP: 259,000 units

Via Gamasutra