Pachter: Sony can counter Halo 3 with 40GB PS3
There’s no denying that Bungie’s Halo 3 will become a powerhouse title in terms of sales when it launches, but Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter says Sony could fight it with an announcement of a US$ 399 40GB PlayStation 3 console.
Pachter made this known to investors in his latest note, saying that the upcoming Tokyo Game Show 2007 could be the perfect venue for it as Sony top cat Kazuo Hirai will deliver a keynote speech.
“We expect the game to be a driver of console sales, and believe that MicrosoftÂ’s unit sales for the 360 could exceed 400,000 in September, the highest figure for a non-holiday month since launch,” predicts the veteran analyst.
Though Halo 3 could give the Xbox 360 a boost in sales, Pachter maintains that the totality of hardware sales should remain relatively slow for the industry as a whole. This, however, can be offset by Sony through price cuts.
Pachter explains that if the Sony PlayStation 2 dips to US$ 99 and the 80GB PS3 drops to US$ 499 by Thanksgiving, the industry’s hardware sales total just might exceed current estimates. “Should Sony choose to cut prices next week, we think that hardware sales will trend much higher for the balance of the year, and we are prepared to revise our 18% sales growth estimate upward,” he concludes.
Via Next-Gen
There’s no denying that Bungie’s Halo 3 will become a powerhouse title in terms of sales when it launches, but Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter says Sony could fight it with an announcement of a US$ 399 40GB PlayStation 3 console.
Pachter made this known to investors in his latest note, saying that the upcoming Tokyo Game Show 2007 could be the perfect venue for it as Sony top cat Kazuo Hirai will deliver a keynote speech.
“We expect the game to be a driver of console sales, and believe that MicrosoftÂ’s unit sales for the 360 could exceed 400,000 in September, the highest figure for a non-holiday month since launch,” predicts the veteran analyst.
Though Halo 3 could give the Xbox 360 a boost in sales, Pachter maintains that the totality of hardware sales should remain relatively slow for the industry as a whole. This, however, can be offset by Sony through price cuts.
Pachter explains that if the Sony PlayStation 2 dips to US$ 99 and the 80GB PS3 drops to US$ 499 by Thanksgiving, the industry’s hardware sales total just might exceed current estimates. “Should Sony choose to cut prices next week, we think that hardware sales will trend much higher for the balance of the year, and we are prepared to revise our 18% sales growth estimate upward,” he concludes.
Via Next-Gen
About The Author
