14 DAY TRIAL // The NPD Group, which tracks software and hardware sales in North America, is set to release its data for the month of May at the end of this week and, ahead of that event, several analysts are saying that the numbers will be disappointing, mainly because of the fact that May 2008 was a very good month, with Grand Theft Auto IV and Wii Fit driving the videogame industry forward.
Jesse Divnich, who works with Electronic Entertainment Design and Research, estimates that software sales will be 15% lower comparing to those for the same month of 2008. He said that “The lack of a sales increase was primarily driven by the next-generation home and portable software titles. Unit sales are likely to decrease by 5 percent over last year with a 10 percent decrease in the average selling price (ASP). EEDAR believes the weak retail environment is to blame for the year-over-year decrease in ASPs.”
Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan, is even more pessimistic. He thinks that May sales will be 17% lower, reaching only 450 million dollars in value. According to him, games like X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Punch Out!!, UFC 2009: Undisputed and inFamous will be the main sellers for May 2009.
EEDAR and Wedbust Morgan have also released estimates related to hardware sales, both of them predicting that the DSi would see a drop in sales. Still, the Nintendo DS is set to be the best selling console, with sales of more than 400,000 units, with the Wii in second spot, shipping between 300,000 and 340,000 items.
The Xbox 360 from Microsoft is expected to outsell (again) the PlayStation 3, which will be facing strong competition from the PS2. The PlayStation Portable should hold the last position of the hardware chart, with about 100,000 units in sales.