Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter believes the Xbox 360 will remain ahead of the PS3 for the foreseeable future, but that Microsoft’s home console will be getting a price cut soon, probably before E3 this year.
“We expect hardware sales to rebound once price cuts are implemented, but expect a recurrence of the dip next holiday, partially buffered by some modest contribution from the introduction of the PS Vita in February and the Wii U later this year,” he said. “Recent slowing of Xbox 360 hardware sales could cause Microsoft to consider a price cut by E3.”
“We do not expect an announcement of a next- generation console from Microsoft until the Xbox 360 core model is priced below $200, likely around this time next year.
“PS3 hardware sales should continue to lag those of the Xbox 360, and we expect sales to trend downward by 10 – 20% monthly, until Sony cuts prices once again, likely at E3.”