Michael Pachter think that as the supply of the 60GB PS3 continues to dry up, Sony's 80GB model may well be reduced to $499. They think all this will come to pass by the Midwinter Solstice.

Sony dropped the price of the 60GB PlayStation 3 to $499 in the hope that it would get rid of what it had in its store room. The 60 GB machine has since been axed.

Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter said there could be a further price reduction in the early part of next year to coincide with some top of the range software releases such as Grand Theft Auto IV and PS3 exclusive Metal Gear Solid 4.

His report is backed by another penned by Jesse Divnich, an analyst with simExchange, who said that the PS3 cannot remain competitive in the current North American environment at its current retail offering of $599.

Despite the fact that the boxes have a habit of overheating, he predicts that the Xbox 360 may outsell the PS3 by 2 to 1 over the holiday season.

Following the ancient practice of Ornthomancy, we predict that the fact that four black crows have settled on the block of flats outside my window will mean that Sony will probably keep its price the same, but bundle lots of old software with it. The information is not as costly as the analyst method of divination, but we are sure it is just as accurate.

More predictions here. µ