Pachter: PS3 Tops 360 In April, Software Explodes

Michael Pachter

We should see the NPD Group's official US statistics for the month of April this Thursday, but before that happens, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter has issued his own set of expectations. (source- Next-Gen.biz)

First of all, he believes the PlayStation 3 topped the Xbox 360 in sales for the month, and that Nintendo will finally start supplying North America with more Wii and DS units (although he still thinks Nintendo hardware once again scored a big victory for the month). Here are Pachter's sales predictions in terms of hardware:

• Wii: 600,000
• PS3: 290,000
• Xbox 360: 275,000
• PS2: 160,000
• DS: 550,000
• PSP: 235,000

As far as software sales are concerned, Pachter believes the latest rising trend will continue in April...big time. After going up 11% in January, 47% in February and 63% in March, he's anticipating a massive 113% increase in year-over-year software sales for last month, which isn't necessarily surprising. You may recall a little title called Grand Theft Auto IV that released on April 29 and went on to sell 3.3 million copies in only six days time (and yes, we realize that bleeds into this month). But if Pachter is correct, total software sales should hit around $830 million for April, concluding as follows: "thus far in 2008, the sector appears highly recession-resistant."

"It is clear that April sales were driven by the highly anticipated new release Grand Theft Auto IV (360, PS3), which we estimate sold 3.3 million units in its first six days in the US," said Pachter. "We note that there were 31 games that sold over 100,000 units in March, and we expect 20 in April (compared to 9 last year)."

As for publisher revenue, it's no shock to see Take-Two top the charts at $250 million, which would be a gargantuan 1165% year-over-year increase. Nintendo would run second at $170 million (+36%), EA clocks in at $105 million (+177%), Activision sits at a respectable $70 million (+13%), and Ubisoft was way up at $50 million (+105%). Of course, we'll have to wait and see if these figures are accurate when the NPD releases their findings later this week, but we doubt Pachter is too far off.

5/12/2008 Ben Dutka