Sony may not be able to cut as early as April, Wii sales to level out in '09, says Pachter

Commenting on December's NPD figures and looking at the months ahead, Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter has told videogaming247 that he now believes that Sony may not be able to cut the price of PlayStation 3 as early as April.

However, when Sony finally does reduce the cost, he believes the console will go toe to toe with 360 in terms of sales.

"Sony may not be able to cut as early as April, but I think that a price cut is coming in 2009," said Pachter to VG247 earlier today.

"PS3 should sell 60 - 75% of the level that the 360 sells for the first part of the year, and when they cut price, the figure should come close to even.

"This is purely attributable to the price difference, with the 360 available for as low as half the price, but with the PS3 offering additional features built-in (bigger hard drive, Wi-Fi and a Blu-ray player)," added Pachter.

When we asked him if he anticipated Nintendo Wii to have as much success as last year, he replied:

"The Wii will likely continue to outsell both combined for the early part of the year, but over the full year, my guess is that Wii sales are flat at best, and that both PS3 and 360 see a year-over-year increase, as I still expect both to cut price some time during the year," he conluded.

For total coverage of December's NPD figures, go here.

By Mike Bowden