A November report from the NPD Group shows a large disparity between sales of the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360. One obvious reason is the difference in price, but Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Patcher suggests that the differenc is also due to the sagging sales of HDTVs.
"We believe that PS3 are being impacted by lower demand for HD televisions as a result of the recession," Pachter said via GamesIndustry.biz.
This, along with the price disparity - the cheapest 360 model, at $199, is half the cost of a $399 PS3 - are combining to stymie PS3 sales this holiday season, he said.
"There was likely some substitution of Xbox 360 for PS3 purchases, due to recent price reductions for the Xbox 360 and the bundling of the console with two free games," according to Pachter.
However, it's not all bad news for Sony. Pachter also said he expects sales to pick up throughout the first half of 2009, due to increased interest in PS3 exclusives and the system's Blu-ray player.
"We believe that several PS3 exclusives, notably LittleBigPlanet, along with focus on the Blu-ray will drive hardware sales over the next six months," he said.
Pachter also predicted strong hardware sales across the board for December, saying the recession won't have a significant effect this month. "Rather, we think that as Nintendo increases Wii supply further, Sony markets Blu-ray, and Microsoft rolls out its New Xbox Experience, hardware sales will show year-over-year increases in December."
This post originally appeared on 1Up.com.
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