PS4 to outsell Xbox One, consoles irrelevant in 10 years, says Pachter

Anaylist Pachter believes the PS4 will come out on top in retail sales.

Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter recently made a statement in which he believes the PlayStation 4 will outsell the Xbox One at retail due to the PS4 price point and other factors. He said in the end it won’t matter, however, as in 10 years time consoles would be irrelevant.

While speaking at the London Games Conference today, Pachter said he expects the PS4 to sell 100 to 120 million units in its lifetime, with the Xbox One only selling between 90 and 100 million units. He also stated the Wii U will only sell around 30 million units in total during its lifetime on shelves. Pachter said:

We think 30 million is where [Wii U] is set. If you are a Nintendo fan bitching about my opinion on Wii U, stop, put your money where your mouth is and buy a Wii U.

Pachter said the PS4 will have an edge at retail due not only to is price, but also because “gamers do not want Kinect,”; though he did state that the Xbox One’s TV functionality could become the system’s killer app with various TV services.

Pachter also believes that console gamers will stop increasing overall. The market will hit a high point of between 220 and 260 million users and stop. He continued:

I don’t think the console market will get any bigger. The console installed base has peaked. Consoles may not be relevant in 10 years. We have expanded the market beyond the hardcore console owner. We now have ten times the audience over the internet, six times the audience over mobile.

And I think one day you’ll get to play any game, anywhere on any device.

Sony is currently working on a system, which allow users to play PlayStation games on any device, even non-Sony technology.

The only reasonable question is why should we listen to Pachter? These seem like some outrageous claims, especially console gaming dying out. No doubt the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One will have their time frame and ten years seems pretty good, that will be a little longer than this generation.

The PlayStation 4 will be released tomorrow, November 15th in North America. The Xbox One will launch next week on Friday, November 22nd.

Sony has confidence in their launch tomorrow, how do you feel about the next-gen console hitting the gaming world at midnight tonight? Let us know in the comments below.