EEDAR on NPD: 360/PS3 Price Cuts In Sight, Industry Remains Robust
EEDAR on NPD: 360/PS3 Price Cuts In Sight, Industry Remains Robust Consumers might be seeing price cuts for Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 in the coming months, claimed analyst Jesse Divnich of research firm EEDAR in a report sent to Gamasutra following today's NPD sales figures for March.
Divnich pointed to the lower-than-expected sales of Xbox 360 and PS3 as evidence that the systems might be plateauing. "These hardware results would indicate that both systems have likely saturated their potential market at their current price points," he wrote. "If we do not see any price cuts in the coming weeks, we can likely expect some hardware cuts once GTA IV loses some steam (before July) or if the GTA IV release significantly drives hardware sales for one console over the other."
Still, he cautioned against being too expectant of an adjustment. "It would be erroneous to start shouting price cuts as we are only a few weeks away from one of the big releases in gaming (GTA IV)," he admitted. "March’s hardware results could very well be the 'calm before the storm. '"
As for why the systems performed as they did, Divnich points to a lack of high-profile flagship releases. "In terms of the continued battle between the PS3 and Xbox 360 we were not surprised that both consoles fell relatively close to each other as neither system offered any significant first party releases or new promotions to sway the trends," he said.
"A Perfect Storm"
All in all, however, Divnich was very pleased with March's strong numbers. Continuing his meteorological metaphor, he said today's NPD figures illustrate a "'perfect storm' for new releases," calling the industry's performance "nothing short of impeccable."
"March has shown us that the industry is finally large enough to support numerous AAA titles during an off-season month and going forward, publishers need not fear a PS3/Xbox 360 title hindering their Wii title (or vice versa)," said Divnich. "March has proven that the PS3/Xbox 360 and the Wii can co-exist perfectly together."
The analyst expects Nintendo's performance, which in March was driven by 2.7 million units sold of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, to remain strong as more marquee titles are released.
"We should continue to see monthly Wii hardware sales in the 600k to 700k range through the next couple of months as Nintendo will ensure strong hardware support for the upcoming Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit release," he said. "The Nintendo DS will see similar success through the summer as it continues to offer one of the cheapest entry points among the hardware systems."
Almost paradoxically, the video game industry continues to weather the consumer spending drop that is affecting other areas of the economy. "At this point one could make a strong argument that there is an inverse correlation between our current economical state and the health of the video game industry," said Divnich. "These results only reinforce previous assumptions that the video game industry offers the best value in terms of entertainment, especially during tough economic times when inflation is on the rise and gas prices continue to push record highs."
360/PS3 Price Cuts In Sight
Have a read and let us know what you think.
Jump to
- News of Today
- ↳ Front Page News
- Welcome to Robinhoods Playground
- ↳ Rules
- ↳ Welcome
- ↳ Whats needed
- ↳ Say Hello
- Destiny
- ↳ RHPG in Destiny
- ↳ Tips and Tricks
- ↳ All Good Things
- ↳ Clan member needed
- The Camp site. Our home in the Woods
- ↳ The Forest
- ↳ Rants & Raves
- ↳ Car,Bike or boat
- ↳ MMA Mixed Martial Arts
- ↳ Water Sports
- ↳ Music , If you dig the sound waves this is the Thread for you.
- ↳ The Outhouse
- ↳ The Movie House & TV Room
- Game Reviews and Game News
- ↳ Gaming News
- ↳ Video Game Reviews from Revision3
- ↳ 360 Video game review
- ↳ Wii Video game review
- ↳ PS3 Video game review
- ↳ PSP Game Review
- ↳ DS game reviews
- ↳ 360 Game Reviews
- ↳ Xbox One Game Reviews
- Online Retailers & Product Review
- ↳ 360 Product Review
- ↳ Members Reviews
- ↳ Wii Products Reviews
- ↳ DS and DSi Products Reviews
- ↳ On-line retailer Review
- ↳ Members Product Review & Retail Site Review
- Tutorials and Downloads
- ↳ Tutorials
- ↳ 360 Tutorials
- ↳ Video Tutorials
- ↳ Drive Flashing Tutorials
- ↳ Other Tutorials
- ↳ Traditional Text/pic Style
- ↳ Drive Flashing Tutorials
- ↳ Other Tutorials
- ↳ PS3 Tutorials
- ↳ WII Tutorials
- ↳ Nintendo DS
- ↳ PSP Tutorials
- ↳ Ipod Iphone & Itouch
- ↳ Programs and Downloads
- ↳ 360 programs
- ↳ PS3 programs
- ↳ PSP custom Firmware & Programs
- ↳ WII Programs
- ↳ Programs you will need for most modding
- ↳ Ipod Touch Programs
- ↳ DS programs
- ↳ Tutorials submitted by members
- ↳ Xbox360 guides go here
- ↳ PS3 guides go here
- ↳ Wii guides go here
- ↳ PSP guides go here
- Consoles
- ↳ Xbox 360
- ↳ Beginners
- ↳ General information
- ↳ 360 DVD Drive Flashing
- ↳ IPreP
- ↳ Game Backups
- ↳ Cosmetic Case Mods
- ↳ What you're playing
- ↳ Junk
- ↳ J-Tag
- ↳ Wii
- ↳ Beginners
- ↳ General information
- ↳ Soft Mod Questions
- ↳ Homebrew Apps
- ↳ Hard mod or chip Questions
- ↳ Game Backups
- ↳ What you're playing.
- ↳ Junk
- ↳ Homebrew Apps
- ↳ Playstation 3
- ↳ General information
- ↳ What you're playing
- ↳ Junk
- ↳ Blackcat usb PSGroove
- ↳ PSP
- ↳ Beginners
- ↳ General information
- ↳ Hardware add-ons or changes
- ↳ What you're playing
- ↳ Junk
- ↳ HomeBrew APP for PSP
- ↳ Nintendo DS & DSi
- ↳ General information
- ↳ What you're playing
- ↳ junk
- Phone modding
- ↳ Cell phone News
- ↳ "AnDroid os" phones
- ↳ General Information & Questions
- ↳ Guides and Tutorials
- ↳ Other Cell phones
- ↳ iphone/ipod touch
- ↳ General Discussion
- ↳ iphone specific
- ↳ ipod touch specific
- ↳ Guides/Tutorials
- Computer Gaming & Hardware
- ↳ Computers
- ↳ General information
- ↳ Hardware
- ↳ Software
- ↳ Games
- Trusted Members