Pachter on which platform holder to dominate holiday season

Michael Pachter has weighed in on which platform holder he believes will dominate the forthcoming holiday season.

Speaking to IndustryGamers, the Wedbush Morgan analyst said:

I really think that sales are going to determine the winner. Clearly, Nintendo will sell more handhelds than anybody. I’m not sure that will be true for consoles. This past weekend, I saw a Best Buy ad for the 4Gb Xbox 360/Kinect bundle, priced at the normal $299.99, but coming with a $100 Best Buy gift card. That means that the entry point for Xbox 360 with Kinect is $200, not a lot more than the entry point for the Wii at $149.99.

With the price differential shrinking (Sony’s PS3 is priced $50 lower this year, and discounts and promotions are likely to be offered for PS3 as well), I could see the two HD consoles gaining ground. However, I still expect Wii to be the top selling console in November and December, then fall back into third place forever after.

Pachter’s prediction regarding Nintendo’s dominance may very well come into fruition, but with the Wii being expected to lose sales momentum after the holiday season, the company still have the console’s successor, Wii U, in tow.