Pachter: $399 PS3 by next April, Xbox 360 rebounding in Aug. NPD

Following the Mirror's failure last month to accurately project the NPD numbers, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter has given it another chance. With the NPD numbers for August expected next Thursday, Pachter went into his secret room and asked once again, "Mirror, mirror, on the wall. In August, who's the console winner of them all -- and skip ahead, don't waste my time by saying Wii and DS!"

"Listen Pach, can I call you Pach?" The Mirror tried to joke, knowing it had wronged Pachter, "Anyway, sorry about last month. As for August, I see around 240,000 units of the Xbox 360 sold -- up from their 170K last month. I also see the PS3 dipping below 150,000 units, but not back to the tragic pre-June levels."

"Thanks Mirror!" Pachter started walking off, satisfied that it was something he could go with. But then ...

"Oh, one more thing," blurted out the Mirror, "Sony will cut the price of the PS3 to $399 by next April."

"You should have quit while you were ahead, but I'll go with it," said Pachter as he went upstairs to write his own report. Pachter's report says that he still believes the 80GB will get cut to $499 before Thanksgiving (minus Motorstorm) and that another $100 will be cut in early 2008. He uses the recent Sony IPO move to back up his claim. A $399 PS3 would be very sweet, especially if the games start flowing properly by next year.