The gaming world is still getting ready for the final releases of the last two next gen game consoles to hit the market-Sony,s PS3 and Nintendo,s Wii. However, analysts are expecting the two machines to not only be very popular during their initial launches, but will be extremely scarce as well. And the rarity of these consoles will have an interesting effect on sales; not for the PS3 and Wii, but for other game consoles. Larry Haverty, a portfolio manager at Gabelli Global Multimedia Trust, painted a rather bleak picture of the availability of PS3 machines during launch day. He told Reuters, "This is going to be the mother of all shortages."
Predictions of available Wii machines are only slightly less bleak.But in despite the bad news for would-be early adopters of the Wii and PS3, there is a silver lining in the dark clouds for Sony and Microsoft. Market watchers believe that the situation will push consumers to opt for the 360 and the venerable PS2 for the holiday shopping season and push sales up for these game consoles.
Analyst Michael Pachter, of Wedbush Morgan, said that Microsoft will most likely sell 3 million more Xbox 360s during the months of November and December, but that the figures could go even higher because of the buyers not being able to get their hands on a PS3. Sony,s current gen game console, the PS2, continues to be the leader with over 60% market share with no signs of an early retirement by any means. The PS2 outsold the Xbox 360 during September, with sales topping 307,000 units, while the Xbox 360 rang up 260,000 sales at cash registers. In spite of the PS2 being “old technology,” Sony expects the PS2 to continue to generate strong sales.
Dave Karraker, Sony,s lead person for communications said, "It will be one of the top-selling consoles for the holiday season.”
