Pachter: October hardware sales to indicate industry's recession resistance

by Alexander Sliwinski { Nov 10th 2008 at 7:30PM }

Barring troglodytism or a severe case of denial, it's pretty safe to say that everyone knows the US (and, we hear, global) economy isn't doing too hot at the moment. Although the video game industry clearly isn't recession proof, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter does think that October's NPD hardware sales numbers (expected later this week) will show how recession resistant it is.

Pachter believes that all three consoles are going strong into the holiday season and expects an 18% hardware sales increase over last year. If he's correct, he believes investors should take it as a sign that the video game industry will do better than the average business during the recession. If hardware sales go down in October, Pachter believes the recession would then have infected the industry ... and darkness shall sweep across the lands.

Tags: analyst, michael-pachter, npd, pachter

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

thediminished5th @ Nov 10th 2008 7:38PM

All I can say is I saw some soccer moms picking up some Wiis that had just arrived at my local Best Buy...

crossax @ Nov 10th 2008 7:44PM

gas price go down, suv sells go up.

Monica @ Nov 10th 2008 7:57PM

hear hear.
god im so worryed about how its ganna work out thesedays.

Sackolantern PSN ID: johnnynumber5 @ Nov 10th 2008 8:00PM

My fiance and I have completely eliminated our entertainment budget of movies, music, blu-ray's, eating out, magazines and PPV events in favor of video games. Even though the expense is a bit more initially you get far more bang for your buck in the long run.

Sackolantern PSN ID: johnnynumber5 @ Nov 10th 2008 8:02PM

we are still purchasing 4-5 new books each month though. I would highly recommend The Kite Runner for anyone who loves a good book.

rv @ Nov 10th 2008 8:20PM

Makes sense. Going to a movie costs about $22 for 2 and lasts 2 hours. Games cost 60 and last anywhere from 10-100+.

Mr Khan @ Nov 10th 2008 10:06PM

That's how i've always put VC title pricing into context. Yeah it's too much, but i'm still getting far, far more bang for your buck

I mean, a full-sized SNES game for the price of a movie ticket? A bargain by comparison

Sackolantern PSN ID: johnnynumber5 @ Nov 10th 2008 11:11PM

Thats true Khan. I usually just have those roms on my PSP.

rv @ Nov 10th 2008 8:17PM

I'm gonna take a wild guess(not really) and say that it is not very recession proof, like the rest of the entertainment industry. When you gotta cut costs, its usually the first to go.

Jason @ Nov 10th 2008 8:21PM

Does anyone even take Pachter seriously anymore?

JAY JAY @ Nov 10th 2008 8:53PM

No. Like all Analysts, he's human and has flawed answers.

Sackolantern PSN ID: johnnynumber5 @ Nov 10th 2008 9:00PM

It was actually proven that Patcher is one of the top analyst statistics wise. There was an article here on Joystiq if memory serves me correct.

Jason @ Nov 10th 2008 9:21PM

Well, that's saying a lot, I guess. Maybe he'll have a better gypsy prediction streak for '09.

AwesomeTown @ Nov 11th 2008 7:20AM

I'm sure it is safe to say the readers of Joystiq are helping out the economy this holiday season by purchasing many, many games.

Faptor @ Nov 11th 2008 9:15AM

Phinehas @ Nov 11th 2008 12:19PM

In case any one else was as curious as I was...

trog⋅lo⋅dyte
/ˈtrɒgləˌdaɪt/ [trog-luh-dahyt] –noun
1. a prehistoric cave dweller.
2. a person of degraded, primitive, or brutal character.
3. a person living in seclusion.
4. a person unacquainted with affairs of the world.
5. an animal living underground.

Shroomsday @ Nov 11th 2008 2:16PM

Think about sales of illegal (and legal!) drugs - they're not going to be very hard-hit by the world's financial troubles.
Video games are addictive, like drugs. People will still want to shell out for their vices.