Pachter: US hardware sales down 36 percent for July

Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter's predicted July's US hardware sales are going to show a 36 percent decline year-on-year. The NPD releases on Thursday.

"We estimate sell-through of 305,000 Wii, 190,000 Xbox 360, and 135,000 PS3 consoles (a 36% year-over-year unit decline for these consoles in July)," said the analyst in a note.

"If our estimates are correct, year-to-date console sales will be down 22%, pressuring software sales growth over the next 12 months."

Horror figures will force the Big Cheeses to cut prices, Pachter added.

"We think that stagnant sales will force the console manufacturers to consider a price cut," he said.

"We note that rumors are rampant of an imminent price cut by Sony and a console upgrade by Microsoft.

"We do not think that either Nintendo’s Wii forecast or Sony’s PS3 forecast are achievable without a price cut, and expect one by October, while Microsoft may wait to see whether Sony gains share with its price cut."

PS3 price cut in Germany next week or you can call us Susan.