Pachter Predicts Xbox Price Drop

[Logan Westbrook]

Pachter Predicts Xbox Price Drop

Console makers will start cutting prices in order to bolster the sales of software, according to market analyst Michael Pachter.

Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter thinks that Microsoft will drop the price of the Xbox 360 [http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-250GB-Console/dp/B003O6JJKY/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1286190968&sr=1-1] by as much as $50 early next year. He says that the delay of the 3DS meant that there were no major catalysts left in 2010, but that prices will start being cut in spring next year.

Pachter believes that a price cut across the board for consoles will increase software sales by around 5% and that Microsoft will be the first to act. Along with cheaper consoles, he thinks that the 3DS will go a long way to re-invigorating software sales, and that Move [http://www.amazon.com/PlayStation-Move-Starter-Bundle-3/dp/B002I0J4NE/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1286191005&sr=1-1] and Kinect [http://www.amazon.com/Kinect-Sensor-Adventures-Xbox-360/dp/B002BSA298/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1286191037&sr=1-1] will help broaden the install base for the PS3 and Xbox 360, which will also have a positive effect.

He foresees difficulty in the last part of the year in making decent comparisons between this year and last year, as November 2009 saw the release of the monumentally successful Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 [http://www.amazon.com/Call-Duty-Modern-Warfare-Xbox-360/dp/B00269QLI8/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1286191063&sr=1-1], meaning that sales for this November will undoubtedly be lower. December will also be tough to compare with last year, as Wal-Mart has a number of aggressive price promotions planned. He thinks that console software sales will end in "negative territory," but they will be offset by sales of StarCraft 2 [http://www.amazon.com/Starcraft-II-Wings-Liberty-Pc/dp/B000ZKA0J6/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1286191089&sr=1-1] and the Cataclysm [http://www.amazon.com/World-Warcraft-Cataclysm-Pc/dp/B002I0HKIU/ref=sr_1_2?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1286191112&sr=1-2] expansion for World of Warcraft [http://www.amazon.com/World-Warcraft-Pc/dp/B000067FDW/ref=sr_1_5?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1286191139&sr=1-5].



Source: Industry Gamers [http://www.industrygamers.com/news/xbox-360-first-to-see-price-cut-next-spring/]







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[Daniel_Rosamilia]

Ummm...

I believe that the release of Black Ops will keep the prices the same.
I like to call it the 'whining-child syndrome'

 

[scrambledeggs]

If there is one thing i'v leanred it's that Pachter ,and most other so called 'games analysts', couldn't predict were their own arse-hole is.

Or they predict something so blindingly obvious it's paramount to "a game will come out during summer".

 

[Ewyx]

Can we just have like a bimonthly news called 'Pachter predictions'. It should state everything in the following format

Date - prediction - true/false (since it has been predicted awhile ago, we can see whether he was right)

If more than 33% predictions are false after the first time, we just start ignoring this wacko?

 

[wooty]

Next time on Mystic Pachter:- Most people in the early part of 2011 will more than likely use some form of currency in order to obtain their new console

 

[GoGo_Boy]

Oh gosh escapist why the fuck do you keep posting news about this son of a wanna be analyst.
It baffles me.

 

[Gray Monk]

Just in!
Stuff drops in price after three or four years.
Captain obvious away!

I never knew that my good sir.

 

[GloatingSwine]

If there is one thing i'v leanred it's that Pachter ,and most other so called 'games analysts', couldn't predict were their own arse-hole is.

Actually, Pachter's pretty accurate. I've not got the stats on hand, but he's got something like an 80% hit rate.

Of course, he mainly does this by predicting the bleeding obvious (the obvious like "five year old console gets price cut".

 

[Jared]

I hope its true, I mean they have been out for a fair while, and, its about time to cut the prices slightly

 

[Kevlar Eater]

Will this dude ever shut up? His predictions almost never come true, and he usually speaks from his ass.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

If there is one thing i'v leanred it's that Pachter ,and most other so called 'games analysts', couldn't predict were their own arse-hole is.

Actually, Pachter's pretty accurate. I've not got the stats on hand, but he's got something like an 80% hit rate.

Of course, he mainly does this by predicting the bleeding obvious (the obvious like "five year old console gets price cut".

Well he did predict XBL Gold prices going up a year before MS announced that they would.

 

[rockyoumonkeys]

Bad news for anyone looking to get an X360, because Pachter's prediction pretty much guarantees it's NOT going to happen.

 

[More Fun To Compute]

It's good to know that PC gaming is there to help save the publishers from the dying console market.

 

[Cynical skeptic]

Patcher is a dipshit, but unless microsoft bundles the kinest with a 360, its going to fail magnificently. Which would mean a substantial price drop on the 360's part.

And hell, even if they do bundle a kinest with an xbox, people are still going to be confused as to why their kinest doesn't seem to work or plug into their TV/ps3/dvdplayer, and why that other kinest cost $125 more.

 

[Beat14]

Its a guarantee that when I but an Xbox 360 S a week later it will go down in price, it always seems to happen to me when I buy a console.

 

[Royas]

Can we just have like a bimonthly news called 'Pachter predictions'. It should state everything in the following format

Date - prediction - true/false (since it has been predicted awhile ago, we can see whether he was right)

If more than 33% predictions are false after the first time, we just start ignoring this wacko?

Hell, Pachter goes in the same category as Wacky Jack Thompson for me. Ignorable, idiotic and a waste of time reporting on.

 

[SalamanderJoe]

Better not be dropping!! I JUST GOT A PS3!!