Electronic Arts estimates that Sony's PS3 will outsell Microsoft's Xbox 360 during 2008, while the Wii will remain the clear frontrunner in the home console market.
While Sony has cut its internal PS3 sales target for the current fiscal year, and EA has admitted that PS3 development hurdles have not yet quite been cleared, the mega-publisher behind the Madden and FIFA franchises expects Sony's next-gen console to sell up to 5.5 million units more than Microsoft's Xbox 360 across Europe and the US during 2008.
According to EA's internal estimates, Sony will sell between 4.5 and 5.5 million PS3s in the US and 5 to 6 million PS3s in Europe during 2008 - that's 9.5 to 11.5 million units in total.
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Microsoft, on the other hand, is expected to sell 4.5 to 5.5 million Xbox 360s in the US, but only 1.5 to 2.5 million units in Europe, so between 6 million and 8 million units altogether.
EA also forecast that Nintendo's Wii will outsell both rival systems, shifting between 5.5 and 6.5 million units in the US and 6.5 to 7.5 million units in Europe, totalling between 12-14 million units.
US and European PS2 sales estimates range between 3.9 and 4.9 million units in total.
EA therefore estimates that total home console sales for the two regions during 2008 will range between 31.4 and 38.4 million units.
The company also expects Nintendo's DS to dominate the handheld market, shifting between 14 and 16 million units, in comparison to PSP sales of between 6 and 8 million units. Combined handheld unit sales would therefore total between 20 and 24 million.
EA stresses that its estimates may not reflect the views of the hardware manufacturers, and that its predictions are subject to alterations.
Last week Codemasters' CEO Rod Cousens told Next-Gen that he also expects Sony's PlayStation 3 to gather sales momentum over the coming years.
