Analyst: PS2 slowly dying and EA Sports juggernauts underperforming
With the NPD numbers out, it's time for analysts to bring on some post-game analysis. Deutsche Bank's Jeetil Patel says that the PS2 business (although strong) is slowing down fast and EA Sports' mega-franchises Madden and NCAA Football are underperforming.
According to Patel's analysis, the PS2 sales fell 47% year-to-year last month, the month prior it was only 33%. He says that although the decline was "inevitable," it's still not clear if consumers are transitioning to newer hardware or "low-end consumers" are buying less. Patel says, "Needless to say, with tougher comps ahead for PS2 software sales, we think that the PS2 may finally be on its way out of the industry for good."
As for EA, this year's iterations of Madden and NCAA Football underperformed. Madden '08 sold only 619,000 units compared to the 1.19 million at the same time last year -- a 48% decline. NCAA Football dropped 23% from 147K units sold to 113K year-to-year. Although, Skate compensated the decline a bit selling 174K units. Patel says the low sales for EA is a concern given the "competitively-speaking" light month heading into the competitively-heavy holiday season. He says EA may potentially "reduce software pricing on these titles to stimulate sales volumes." Translation: Don't buy Madden now and it may drop its price.
