Ben-DutkaIt's common industry knowledge that Microsoft has difficulty selling hardware units in Japan, but Wedbush Morgan Securities' analyst Michael Pachter believes the situation could be more dire than we think. In fact, given the PS3's newfound momentum worldwide, he thinks the 360 might not even survive the year in Japan.
“In the US, I think it will be close all year, with 360 outselling PS3 most months due to its lower price points (at least as long as it remains lower priced),” Pachter told the Videogaming247 blog. “Sony gains a huge competitive advantage when HD monitor sales pick up at holiday, as I expect retailers to push PS3 as a Blu-ray player to anyone buying an HD monitor. By year-end, I think PS3 will outsell the 360 in the US by a little. PS3 will likely outsell the 360 in Europe by 20-40 percent, and will kill 360 in Japan.”
These comments came after Wedbush Morgan projected a monthly lead for the PS3 in the US in February plus a 27% increase in the NPD year-over-year numbers for last month. No matter what Microsoft does in Japan, it seems the 360 just can't gain a steady foothold. Certain RPGs – like Blue Dragon and the recently released Lost Odyssey – have helped, but only in the short-term; nothing has managed to provide the system with a permanent increase in popularity. And now, with Japanese gamers quickly starting to come around to the PlayStation 3 (they still love the Wii, of course), the Xbox 360 continues to get ignored. But could it get bad enough for Microsoft to actually discontinue the model in Japan…? Unlikely, but you never know.
