analyst

Nintendo hasn't even announced plans to release a follow-up to the Wii, but one analyst is already predicting doom and gloom for any such console.

"I just think Nintendo's blown it; I think by the time they launch [their next console] if it's Christmas 2011, it's two years too late, and for sure one year too late," Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter said in an interview published yesterday by IndustryGamers. "So it's over--I don't think they can ever recover. Wii sales will continue to decline and I think Wii 2 will not … Read more

Consumers may be happy to see the Nintendo 3DS selling for $249 when it launches March 27, but at least one analyst thinks its price tag will cause severe supply shortages and hurt the company.

In an IndustryGamers interview published yesterday, Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter said he believes Nintendo is "going to regret" pricing the 3DS so low.

"It's going to sell out and they're leaving money on the table," Pachter told IndustryGamers. "It's not shareholder friendly, but consumers are going to love the $249 price point."

Pachter added that "… Read more

Redbox owner Coinstar had a worse-than-expected fourth quarter as it severely underestimated the impact 28-day delays on movie availability, among other factors, would have on its operation.

The company said yesterday that it expects to make between $78 million and $82 million when it announces fourth-quarter earnings next month. Coinstar initially estimated that it would generate a profit of $84 million to $90 million. Moreover, it has revised its 2011 revenue outlook down from $1.85 billion to $1.70 billion.

"Overall, the performance of the Redbox business during the fourth quarter was not in line with our forecast,&… Read more

Best Buy is on its way to losing more market share to competing retailers, Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter said in a note to investors yesterday.

"We expect continued market share losses in consumer electronics to online retailers and lower-priced big-box competitors, and entertainment software to GameStop, Amazon, and Wal-Mart," Pachter wrote.

Pachter believes Best Buy's decline is due mainly to its market strategy. The analyst said that the company's "offering the widest selection of goods at premium price points is undermined by value-focused comparison shopping."

During its latest reported quarter, announced last month, Best … Read more

So much for the PlayStation Move's sales lead over the Kinect.

Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter released a note yesterday saying Microsoft has sold more units of its motion-control device, Kinect, than Sony has sold PlayStation Move units, even though the Move launched weeks earlier.

"The higher-priced Kinect controller appears to have overtaken the Move controller in the sales races, with sales about even notwithstanding Move's six-week head start in the marketplace," Pachter wrote in a research note to clients.

Pachter came to that conclusion by analyzing information offered up recently by both Sony and Microsoft.

Earlier … Read more

A slew of upcoming iPad competitors won't be able to match Apple's tablet anytime soon, Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore said in a recent note to investors.

"We believe Apple's lead in the tablet market will prove difficult to close by the onslaught of competing products coming over the next several quarters," Whitmore said Monday in a research note obtained by Fortune. "Ultimately, we expect the slew of upcoming competition to fall flat from a user-experience standpoint while struggling to materially undercut the iPad on price."

Apple's lead is quite substantial, Whitmore … Read more

REDMOND, Wash.--Steve Ballmer made the case Thursday that Microsoft not only gets the consumer market, but is set to grow its business there.

Speaking at the company's financial analyst meeting here, Microsoft's CEO began his speech by talking about the current state of the company's consumer business. His talk follows Kevin Turner's chat earlier in the day focusing on momentum with business customers.

"Our biggest consumer product, no question is Windows," Ballmer said, noting that most computers these days are sold to individuals, rather than businesses.

"Suffice to say I didn't … Read more

REDMOND, Wash.--Microsoft kicked off a daylong meeting with analysts on Thursday as the company looks to reassure investors that its future is as bright as its past.

The company began the event touting its recent quarterly results which resulted in double-digit revenue growth in all of its business segments and noting that Windows 7 has now sold 175 million copies.

"That was a great result for us," said Bill Koefoed, general manager of investor relations for the software giant.

Ahead of the meeting, Microsoft announced a trio of cloud-computing deals, noting that Dow Chemical, Hyatt Hotels, and … Read more

If all the commercial buildings in the U.S. that exist as of 2010 were retrofitted to be more energy efficient, the country as a whole would save over $41.1 billion a year in energy bills.

That's according to the report "Energy Efficiency Retrofits for Commercial and Public Buildings" released Thursday by Pike Research.

Of course, in order to get to that $41.1 billion per year in savings, the owners of commercial properties would have to invest in the initial retrofit adaptations and construction upgrades. So how much is that going cost? Well, as it … Read more