people don`t need nextgen, today atleast. =)

HDTV penetration in the USA is only like 30% so.. whats 30% of the overall population.. figure they are the ones buying the true nextgen consoles the rest are buying the Wii (or buying it for parties).

It just said that the lower costs of development, EE removed, LOW costs of blu-ray diodes, and 65mm chips, might allow sony to lower the price.

April NPD is only 4 weeks which explains the lower than expected numbers. March was 5 weeks, so logically with a week subtracted you should see smaller numbers. March NPD (5 weeks): NDS - 508k PS2 - 280k Wii - 259k 360 - 199k PSP - 180k GBA - 148k PS3 - 130k With absolutely no changes in supply or demand, the 4 week month would be this: April NPD (4 weeks estimate): NDS - 407k PS2 - 224k Wii - 207k 360 - 160k PSP - 144k GBA - 120k PS3 - 104k The ones who should have a possible increase week to week would be Wii, DS, PSP, and possibly 360. The Wii has been supply constrained, but reports have said they have ramped up supply. The DS had a Pokemon release. The PSP had a price drop. The 360 had the Elite released toward the end of the NPD month (April 29th to May 8th sales will be recorded, I believe). But, it's possible sales slowed in previous weeks due to the Elite announcement, therefore negating any gain it may have had.

For comparison...Patcher estimated the following for March NPD

Wii 400,000 (259,000 actual NPD, nearly 60% too high)

DS,PS2, 360 - 250,000 each (DS 2x prediction, 360 ~ 25% too high, PS2 ~10% too low)

PSP - 210,000 (PSP ~ over 15% too high)

GBA, PS3 - 165,000 (GBA ~ 10% too high, PS3 ~ 30% too high)

I'm thinking it will go something like...

DS - 475,000 (Pokemon)

Wii - 310,000 (increased supply)

PS2 - 236,000 (slowly, slowly dying)

PSP - 224,000 (price drop helped a bit)

360 - 204,000 (significant increase on weekly basis because of Elite, 51k average vs 40k average week)

GBA - 138,000 (great value proposition)

PS3 - 108,000 (27,000 per week, a small increase from March)

GC - 13,000 (last breaths)

Xbox - 200 (dead.)

I don't think that the PS2 will be going anywhere for a while still, they still have the $99 and $49 price points to hit with the hardware if they want to, and as long as it keeps selling so does software... I think at LEAST mid next year it will still be selling decently!

DonWii,  What is the story behind your sig?  Why not buy an American console? 

Practer has been bad at predictions. I don't know why he tries. Last month he said the DS would sell 250k and it ended up selling 500k. He said the Wii would be 400k yet it ended around 250k. You'll do just as well as getting predictions from someone on this site who isn't a so called expert.

Patcher's predictions are always funny. He tries once and again and always fails. But the funniest of all are the predictions about future market tendencies, like: "we expect the PS2 versions of Spider-Man 3, Shrek the Third, Ratatouille, Transformers, and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix to sell more units than on any other platforms" Yes, we all know spiderman 3 is selling more on ps2 than in xbox360... Or the guessing about the ps3 price cuts, nothing but wishful thinking all the time. I just wonder who takes Patcher seriously, but even more... Who pays Patcher?

His name is Michael Pachter, not Patcher.