Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter is guesstimating that the PlayStation 3 will outsell the Xbox 360 in NPD sales figures for February. Pachter believes that Sony’s lead over Microsoft was due to continuing Xbox 360 supply constraints. From the man himself:

Our estimate reflects $485 million in sales contribution from new platforms (PS3, Wii, 360, PSP and DS) and current generation software sales of $90 million. We estimate sell-through of 300,000 Wii, 250,000 Xbox 360 and 260,000 PS3 consoles. For purposes of comparison, The simExchange prediction market forecasts 450,000 Wii, 285,000 Xbox 360 and 270,000 PS3 consoles sold in February. Our console sell-through forecasts reflect our belief that Wii, DS and Xbox 360 hardware continued to be supply constrained during the month. With the launch of several high-profile games in March, we expect supplies for the consoles to increase.

Solid predictions overall. Taking supply issues into account, it’s not surprising that February’s NPD is destined to be another close one between all three consoles.

NPD data: PS3 outsold Xbox 360 in February, says Pachter [VG247]

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