Games industry analysts have weighed in with US sales predictions for the month of March, ahead of the NPD Group's release of official market data this Thursday.

Xbox 360 and PS3 are expected to lead monthly hardware sales, while Wii U looks set to record another challenging month.
Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter and fellow analyst firm EEDAR think Nintendo's new console only managed to outsell Vita, PSP and PS2 during March in the US.

Wedbush / EEDAR March hardware sales estimates (change year-on-year):

360 - 290,000 (-22%) / 330,000 (-11%)
PS3 - 260,000 (-22) / 270,000 (-19%)
3DS - 190,000 (-16%) / 190,000 (-16%)
DS - 85,000 (-20%) / 100,000 (-5%)
Wii - 85,000 (-51%) / 80,000 (-54%)
Wii U - 55,000 (n/a) / 65,000 (n/a)
Vita - 42,500 (-80%) / 45,000 (n/a)
PSP - 10,000 (-67%) / n/a (n/a)
PS2 - 100 (-99%) / n/a (n/a)
Total - 1,017,600 (-30%) / 1,080,000 (-26%)
Pachter said in a research note today: "We expect hardware sales of 55,000 Wii U units in its fifth month (down 17% month-over-month).

"Last month... the only key hardware device to underperform our expectations was the Wii U, and its fortunes appear unlikely to improve for several months, even if Nintendo decides to drop price, as there are an insufficient number of core titles that are generating interest in the console.

"We think that core gamers are far more likely to turn their attention to the PS4 (due in the holiday season) and the next Xbox, which we believe will be unveiled before E3 and have a launch alongside that of the PS4, and believe that the long-term appeal of the Wii U will be severely limited by the perception that the PS4 and next Xbox will be much more powerful with greater online integration and multimedia functionality. Should the new consoles from Sony and Microsoft be price competitive, we think that Wii U sales may continue to stagnate."

Posted: Apr 15, 2013 6:36 pm
Related Forum: Gaming Discussion

Source: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/401155/analyst-expects-us-wii-u-sales-decline-in-march/