PlayStation 5 named ‘fastest-selling hardware in U.S. history,’ edging out the Nintendo Switch

Jonathan Lee
·2 min read

The PlayStation 5 is now the fastest-selling console in America by dollar sales, edging out the Nintendo Switch.

First, some clarification: In terms of sheer units sold, the Switch is still the best-selling console in America. Nintendo announced that it had sold 79.87 million Switch devices as of Feb. 2021. However, in terms of profit, the PlayStation 5 is now the fastest-selling console in the country, as reported by IGN.

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Mat Piscatella, executive director of market research company NPD Group, tweeted out more details about the study.

While Piscatella didn’t reveal how many PlayStation 5 units were sold, he did cite another study regarding overall gaming sales. Consumer spending on video games reached a record high of $4.6 billion in February, a 35 percent increase from 2020.

Cost is obviously a big factor in this. The PlayStation 5 Digital is $399 and the PlayStation 5 Blu-ray is $499, a significantly higher price than the Switch at $299.

And no doubt, the COVD-19 pandemic has been a huge contributor to increased spending on electronics overall. On the one hand, the pandemic has hit gaming supply lines hard which has led to constant shortages. However, quarantine has also driven a surge in gaming purchases.

But ultimately, Sony is simply offering a strong product. The company has been raking in acclaim for over a decade thanks to its seemingly invincible stable of PlayStation exclusive games. Series such as Uncharted, Horizon Zero Dawn, Marvel’s Spider-Man, The Last of Us, Ghost of Tsushima and more have been widely celebrated as all-time greats.

In comparison, Microsoft has been struggling to keep up on this front. But now that the Xbox manufacturer owns Bethesda, the rest of the year is looking much more competitive between the Big Three.

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