New DS in the making? Michael Pachter thinks so.

Following the financial reports yesterday, which revealed DS sales are declining in Japan, analyst Michael Pachter predicts that Nintendo will have a new DS ready for sale by the end of this year.

DS Sales in Europe and the US remain strong, and the Wedbush Morgan exec expects the majority of Nintendo's DS shipment for this year to arrive in these territories to meet the demand for the Nintendo DS.

"It is likely that DS demand will continue to decline in Japan, and we think that Nintendo has a new handheld device ready for launch in that territory before the end of the calendar year," said Pachter. "We think that the lion's share of the expected 28 million DS hardware units shipped during the fiscal year will land in the US and Europe, and we expect to see strong software sales in those territories," he added.

Profit for Nintendo rose 34 per cent in the first fiscal quarter of the year to JPY 107.2 billion, with sales topping JPY 423.3 billion.

So this means Nintendo might be releasing a new DS in Japan, and hopefully worldwide.

New Nintendo handheld due this year - Pachter // News // GamesIndustry.biz