Xbox group product manager Aaron Greenberg said in an interview with Reuters that, just as Jeff Bell predicted earlier last month, supply problems would keep sales of the Xbox 360 behind those of the PS3 for a second month in a row. “We definitely expect we will trail in February as a result of our supply constraints,” said Greenberg. Things are expected to improve in April, however, with “a very healthy inventory situation.”

Microsoft says that “unexpected high demand” is the reason behind the shortages and says it didn’t expect the post-holiday demand to be as strong as it was. With a much larger install base, and an attach rate of 7 games per console, Xbox 360 still has a healthy lead in the “console wars” over the PS3. But these past couple months have shown that the PS3 is not down for the count, but is in fact up and landing some powerful blows.