Analyst: PS3 outsold 360 in July

Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter has released his preview of July US hardware and software sales.

Among his other findings, the analyst believes that Sony sold 160,000 PS3 consoles during the month, compared to sales of 115,000 Xbox 360 consoles. The Wii continues to outsell both platforms, however, with 330,000 consoles sold.

Pachter attributes the "bump" in PS3 hardware and software sales to the recent price cut.

"We forecast [game] sales of $425 million, up 12.5% compared to last yearâs $378 million... Our estimate reflects $295 million in sales contribution from new platforms (PS3, Wii, 360, PSP and DS) and current generation software sales of $130 million."

He expects July sales to be driven by Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80's and NCAA Football 08, as well as catalog sales of Guitar Hero II, Wii Play, and Mario Party 8.

Although Xbox 360 sales have declined, Pachter believes that sales will rebound now that "the warranty has been communicated to consumers, the price has been cut, and (it appears) the design flaw that caused the high failure rate has been corrected."

As for handheld systems, Pachter estimates DS sales at 450,000 units and PSP sales at 225,000 units.

The official NPD July results will be made available on August 23.