Halo 3 Boosted Games Sales By 30 Percent

According to Lazard Capital Markets' game analyst Colin Sebastian, Halo 3 caused a 30% boost in September games sale.

Compared to September 2006, Sebastian " estimate that software sales increased 30% in September, despite a tough year-over-year comparison (+28%), largely driven by strong initial sales of Halo 3… specifically, Microsoft recently announced that retail sales of Halo 3 through early October surpassed $300M, the majority of which we believe were in North America."

"We also expect higher Xbox 360 hardware sales in September boosted by price cuts and Halo 3 launch. In addition, demand for Nintendo's Wii hardware remains strong but sales are likely to reflect ongoing supply constraints â€" a trend likely to persist through the holiday period," Sebastian's analysis continued. "For Sony's PS3, we do not anticipate a meaningful uptick in unit sales without a hardware price discount (or new SKU) or until the seasonal holiday sales ramp."