Wedbush Morgan's larger-than-life analyst Michael Pachter and simExchange's Jesse Devnich have both emerged from their respective gypsy caravans with predictions of yet another Sony PlayStation 3 price drop, reports Gamasutra. The dynamic analyst duo reckons that the new 80GB version's cost will be snipped from $599 USD down to $499 USD by Christmas 2007.

Furthermore, Pachter says the drop "could serve as a catalyst for sales growth later in the year," and predicts that Sony could "again be in a position to cut the price of the PS3 in early 2008, when blockbuster games Grand Theft Auto IV and PS3 exclusive Metal Gear Solid 4 will launch."

Divnich shares Pachter's beliefs, stating that the PS3 cannot remain competitive in the North American market unless the price of the PlayStation 3 drops. Other than that he suggests bigger and better hardware bundles might do the trick. Divnich concludes: "Sony has no choice but to make some type of move this holiday season, regardless of the financial loss that may occur."

GamerSquad can understand Sony's reluctance about cutting the price of its beloved next-generation console (the firm is already losing bucket loads of cash on the machine as it stands), but it seems that the firm has no choice but to do something drastic if it wants to close the gap between it, the Microsoft Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii.