Analyst: 360 shipment lower than expected

Hoping to get an Xbox 360 in time for Christmas? It may pay to be in good with Santa Claus, according to PJ McNealy of American Technology Research.

McNealy believes that Microsoft intentionally kept supply projections low in hopes of overshooting its target come the end of the month, reports Reuters.

However, McNealy thinks the plan may have backfired.

"We believe that (Microsoft) has tried to keep expectations low for retailers this holiday with the hopes of over-delivering. We believe that over-delivering is unlikely at this point," McNealy told Reuters.

All is not without hope for 360 hunters, though. McNealy predicts 300,000 next-gen consoles will hit the market next week, bringing his projection of worldwide units shipped to near 1 million. That number is still far below his initial assumption of 1.5 to 1.8 million Xbox 360s through retail by the end of 2005.

As far as the software side goes, McNealy predicts further price cuts and deals over the next 12 days leading up to Christmas. He also believes that while recovering slightly from a less-than-stellar October and November is a possibility, any chance of moving beyond expectations is "unlikely."