Lazard Capital Markets Colin Sebastian is estimating that February sales figures (coming out later today) should show a 25-30% increase from last month based on 360 exclusives, as well as Wii Play from Nintendo. Mr. Sebastian also believes that solid DS sales helped totals out as well.
Today after the market close, NPD is scheduled to release February sell-through data for console and handheld software and hardware. Our directional forecast suggests that software sales could be up 25%-30% year over year, driven by incremental sales of next-generation software (Xbox 360, Wii and PS3) as well as solid PS2 and Nintendo DS game sales.
Mr. Sebastian also stated that the Wii and Cube versions of Twilight Princess also played a part in sales. Finally Mr. Sebastian takes a look at expected console sales through February.
We believe console hardware unit sales remained solid in February, with approximately 400k Nintendo Wiis (still in short supply), 300k PS2s, 275k Xbox 360s, and 200k PS3s. We also believe DS handheld sales remain strong, while we expect Sony to focus more attention on expanding the PSP market in 2007.