Anilrgowda

Halo 3 sales will top 3 million in 12 days, driving Xbox 360 sales, says Michael Pachter, who believes a PS2 price cut and new 40GB PS3 could be announced by Sony at TGS to combat the Halo 3 juggernaut.In his latest research note to investors, Wedbush Morgan's Pachter says, “The top September release is expected to be Microsoft’s Halo 3 (360), which we expect to sell over 3 million U.S. units in its first 12 days.

“We expect the game to be a driver of console sales, and believe that Microsoft’s unit sales for the 360 could exceed 400,000 in September, the highest figure for a non-holiday month since launch.”

While Pachter said that “industry software sales growth comparisons will remain difficult in September”, he expects a modest rise in hardware sales due to price cuts made to Sony’s PS3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360 in July and August respectively.

He also notes that should whisperings about a PlayStation 2 price cut to $99 and the release of a new $399 40GB PS3 turn out to be more than just rumors, the Tokyo Game Show would be an ideal venue for Sony to make such announcements.

“We think that both of these ideas have merit, and note that Sony Computer Entertainment president Kaz Hirai is the keynote speaker at next week’s Tokyo Game Show. If the rumors are true, we cannot think of a better forum for making such an announcement, given that the event is less than a week before the launch of archrival Microsoft’s Halo 3.

"Should Sony choose to cut prices next week, we think that hardware sales will trend much higher for the balance of the year, and we are prepared to revise our 18% sales growth estimate upward.”

Pachter also reaffirmed his past forecast that the 80GB PS3 (without a game) is in line for a price cut to $499 prior to Thanksgiving.

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