If the sales numbers keep going down, then it just might be more likely that the console manufacturers will introduce price cuts for their systems before October 1st. Sony will join in on the fray this time. At least that's what Wedbush Morgan analyst, Michael Pachter, is saying.

According to his analysis, the North American sales for Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3 will reflect a year-on-year decline of 43% for the month of June. And with this number, Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft will ultimately be forced to slash off prices from their consoles to reverse the downward sales trends.

We think that the console manufacturers will therefore be forced to consider a price cut before year-end ,with Sony cutting the PS3's price by October 1.

Further, we do not think that Nintendo's hardware forecast figures are achievable without a price cut, and we expect one around the same time as the PS3 price cut.

It is likely both manufacturers will cut by US$ 50, with Sony making up any lack of increased demand with a software bundle.

We expect Microsoft to follow suit, giving us confidence that US software sales will grow later in the year, notwithstanding negative sales in the early part of the year.

We'll know soon enough if the sales figures really do spell out doomsday for the big three. The NPD result for the month of June is set to be released this Thursday.

---

More stats, figures, analysis:

• 24 million installed base for UK consoles recorded
• NPD: Gaming woos the ladies in 2009
• Pachter: Wii on top by 2015, PS3 in second place