pachter

Nintendo's Wii U might be in deep trouble in the U.S.

In a research note to investors today, Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter said that he believes Nintendo sold just 80,000 Wii U units in February -- the same number of original Wii units that sold. What's worse, the Wii U's sales were about half of the 165,000 PlayStation 3 units sold last month and far behind the Xbox 360's 225,000 unit sales, according to Pachter.

Although Pachter is not the final word on game industry sales -- NPD, which plans to release … Read more

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings is starting to look more like the guy who helped Netflix seize an early lead in Internet movie streaming and boost the company's share price last year above $300.

The Web's top video-rental service is being applauded after announcing yesterday that it had reached an agreement to become the exclusive subscription TV service to offer Disney's films starting in 2016. Netflix will get access to new releases from the studio during a span of time known in Hollywood as the pay-TV window, i.e., after the films have appeared in theaters and gone … Read more

When Facebook added a slew of retail partners to its Gifts product last week -- complete with a splashy party at FAO Schwartz in New York -- some observers got excited about the social network's ongoing march into e-commerce, even claiming (incorrectly, I would argue) that this helped push the stock up more than 6 percent on Friday.

Not so fast.

Facebook's decision allowing users to buy and send physical gifts is a shrewd move that could potentially grow into a $1 billion business (more on that in a moment). For now, however, the play seems less about … Read more

Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter elaborated yesterday on his view that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg failed to exhibit "respect to Wall Street" by showing up to investor presentations in his trademark hoodie.

Pachter reiterated his displeasure with the hoodie to Bloomberg TV, saying, "A jacket over a T-shirt and jeans would be fine, it would show some respect," but Zuckerberg's choice of garb "didn't show any respect to the audience."

Pachter continued, "If he shows up and says, 'I care what you have to say, I'm listening, I'm going … Read more

It's Tuesday again, and this time we are prepared.

On today's show, code in iBooks 2 points to possible Retina Display iPad; Casio does something other than make keyboards; our favorite people on Earth, analysts, comment on the upcoming year for Netflix; and we have a couple guesses about who Anonymous will attack next.

Also next week, or maybe the week after, is Humiliation Day. You know what's different about this Humiliation Day? For once, Karyne isn't the big loser. If you have any Humiliation Day ideas for Emily, or if you have any ideas about … Read more

Netflix has endured an exceedingly difficult year. But things will only get worse in the coming months, says Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter.

Writing to investors in a research note today, Pachter said that Netflix "is broken," and its decision earlier this year to raise prices on customers who want to both rent DVDs and stream video content proved to be the catalyst that brought those flaws to light.

"It is clear that a price increase was necessary, and equally clear in hindsight that a 60 percent increase on the hybrid customer was too much," Pachter wrote … 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

The postman, an often overlooked low-tech part of Netflix's Web movie-rental business, may walk off the job--at least on Saturdays.

The U.S. Postal Service, founded in 1775, wants to drop Saturday mail delivery as part of a plan to cut costs, according to reports in The Washington Post and elsewhere. Some observers fear that Netflix customers could revolt if the weekend becomes a dead zone for disc delivery.

The proposal is a long way from being a sure thing. Several lawmakers and the union representing mail carriers will oppose a Saturday shutdown. And the people wringing their hands … Read more

Nintendo seems ready to resume its dominance over its video game console competitors, Microsoft and Sony, and to shake off several tepid months of sales, an analyst suggested Monday.

Those comments came after Nintendo put out a press release boasting that it had sold 550,000 Wiis in the U.S. during Thanksgiving week, leading Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter to estimate that the company may have sold about 1.1 million of the consoles for all of November.

Last November, Nintendo moved 2.04 million Wiis, so if Pachter is correct about this month's data--his estimate was based … Read more