We've been hearing lots of rumors about the next Xbox console, with many claiming that it's scheduled to arrive next year, but Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter believes these reports are wrong and that we won't get to see the oft rumored Xbox 720 until 2014.
The current Xbox 360 is doing extremely well in terms of sales, managing to trump all of its rivals in North America and really show off that even after 6 years of existence, people are still interested in it and the gaming experience it provides.
Still, this hasn't stopped an array of outlets from claiming that a new Xbox is coming soon, with the device scheduled to be revealed at the
CES 2012 convention in January, and released onto the market as soon as late 2012, in order to steal some market share from the all-new Nintendo Wii U.
But while various other media outlets have claimed the same thing, Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter believes everyone is wrong, at least in some regards.
Pachter told
Industry Gamers that the Xbox 360 is doing really well so there's no reason to deploy an all-new console just yet. However, a redesigned device might appear that has some functionality with Windows 8 next year, previewing the all-new console that might be released around 2014.
"Those rumors are silly," Pachter said about recent speculation. "Microsoft is still selling a ton of Xbox 360s, and they won't replace the existing one until sales begin to slow. I think the rumors are based upon leaks about modifying the current Xbox 360 to allow it to operate Windows 8. I fully expect a new model of Xbox 360 by holiday 2012, but don't think we see a new console altogether from Microsoft until 2014."
The last major redesign for the Xbox 360, in the form of the smaller and more efficient 'Slim' edition was deployed back in 2009 at E3, but the release of Windows 8 next year might prompt Microsoft to released another version of the console, or at least a new dashboard to work with the PC operating system.
As of yet, however, Microsoft hasn't commented on any of this speculation, so don't expect a confirmation anytime soon.
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