Console sales statistics

[carlsson]

I found this report on Twitter: https://www.ampereanalysis.com/insight/console-sales-q3-2021-ps5-supply-improves-bringing-it-closer-to-switch

 

Basically it has these numbers:

 

Total number of systems sold until the end of September 2021:

Switch family - 89.7 million

PS5 family - 12.8 million

Xbox Series family - 6.7 million

 

Sales numbers for Q3, July - September 2021:

Switch family - 3.91 million

PS5 family - 3.24 million

Xbox Series family - 1.36 million

 

Apparently PS5 supply in the Western markets has picked up a lot lately. In Europe, the PS5 outsold the Switch for the entire last quarter and in the US the same happened for September. However due to the launch of the Switch OLED, Nintendo is expected to outsell Sony and Microsoft for Q4 and the Christmas sales.

 

The Xbox Series S outsells the Series X on several key markets. When it comes to the previous generations, the PS4 sales are declining faster than expected, though not in the same category as the slowdown of the Xbox One sales.

 

Personally I don't keep up with the news, but I thought the PS5 has been made out of unobtainium for a long while and in combination with the overall component shortage it is interesting that Sony has managed to produce enough systems to be on par and in some markets outsell the Switch, selling more than twice than the Xbox Series does. Perhaps this means that within some months, even the modern games tracker will start to see some serious PS5 numbers weekly. Up till now it has been a rare sight to have anyone even report that they own a PS5, let alone use it to play games.

[Hwlngmad]

4 hours ago, carlsson said:

I found this report on Twitter: https://www.ampereanalysis.com/insight/console-sales-q3-2021-ps5-supply-improves-bringing-it-closer-to-switch

 

Basically it has these numbers:

 

Total number of systems sold until the end of September 2021:

Switch family - 89.7 million

PS5 family - 12.8 million

Xbox Series family - 6.7 million

 

Sales numbers for Q3, July - September 2021:

Switch family - 3.91 million

PS5 family - 3.24 million

Xbox Series family - 1.36 million

 

Apparently PS5 supply in the Western markets has picked up a lot lately. In Europe, the PS5 outsold the Switch for the entire last quarter and in the US the same happened for September. However due to the launch of the Switch OLED, Nintendo is expected to outsell Sony and Microsoft for Q4 and the Christmas sales.

 

The Xbox Series S outsells the Series X on several key markets. When it comes to the previous generations, the PS4 sales are declining faster than expected, though not in the same category as the slowdown of the Xbox One sales.

 

Personally I don't keep up with the news, but I thought the PS5 has been made out of unobtainium for a long while and in combination with the overall component shortage it is interesting that Sony has managed to produce enough systems to be on par and in some markets outsell the Switch, selling more than twice than the Xbox Series does. Perhaps this means that within some months, even the modern games tracker will start to see some serious PS5 numbers weekly. Up till now it has been a rare sight to have anyone even report that they own a PS5, let alone use it to play games.

Personally, I have never seen the PS5 in any stores here where I live.  However, I did not see an Xbox Series S on one or two occasions.  Never seen an Xbox Series X.  However, seen plenty of Switch, though admittingly have not seen the OLED model (just the Lite and V2).

[zzip]

5 minutes ago, Hwlngmad said:

Personally, I have never seen the PS5 in any stores here where I live.  However, I did not see an Xbox Series S on one or two occasions.  Never seen an Xbox Series X.  However, seen plenty of Switch, though admittingly have not seen the OLED model (just the Lite and V2).

It's because the PS5's get snatched up by online sales as soon they arrive, so they never bother to put them on the shelves

[carlsson]

The question is if all PS5 sold in the past quarter already were pre-ordered, so it isn't as much sales stats as it is delivery stats? Also I would be willing to think that a big amount of those were sold within Japan, but then again the text says that the PS5 outsold/outdelivered the Switch in both Europe and lately US which it would not be the case if the distribution mainly was to Japanese customers.

 

If the PS4 sales are dwindling faster than expected, but at the same time there are no PS5 to buy in the store, I suppose it means there is not any particular need for discount sales of old consoles. The text suggests though that it will live on for a while like the PS2 did during the PS3 days. I can't recall how PS3 supply looked like respective to which extent various PS2 Slim etc were discounted or just remained at a price tag until it was completely discontinued.

[youxia]

We live in topsy-turvy times. I don't see much point comparing current to old sales or making any predictions.

[zzip]

4 hours ago, carlsson said:

Personally I don't keep up with the news, but I thought the PS5 has been made out of unobtainium for a long while and in combination with the overall component shortage it is interesting that Sony has managed to produce enough systems to be on par and in some markets outsell the Switch, selling more than twice than the Xbox Series does. Perhaps this means that within some months, even the modern games tracker will start to see some serious PS5 numbers weekly. Up till now it has been a rare sight to have anyone even report that they own a PS5, let alone use it to play games.

It supposedly selling in similar numbers to PS4 during the first year, even surpassing it at some points.   So it isn't that Sony isn't producing it, it's the demand is so strong.  Part of the reason is it's very cheap for specs it has.  You can't build a PC with similar specs for anywhere close to the price.   And the pandemic has driven up console demand

 

14 minutes ago, carlsson said:

The question is if all PS5 sold in the past quarter already were pre-ordered, so it isn't as much sales stats as it is delivery stats? Also I would be willing to think that a big amount of those were sold within Japan, but then again the text says that the PS5 outsold/outdelivered the Switch in both Europe and lately US which it would not be the case if the distribution mainly was to Japanese customers.

You can't preorder a PS5,  all you can do is jump on it when new stock becomes available.  There are online trackers and Twitter accounts that watch various store's inventory and alert you when a new shipment is available,  but those typically sell out in minutes.

 

I've read that PS5 wasn't selling so well in Japan, but it looks like they reached 1 million sold in Japan in September.   The Japanese supposedly prefer handheld consoles and Playstation has pretty much become a US-based division at this point and has alienated their Japanese fanbase somewhat

[carlsson]

Cool. I definitely assumed that stores took preorders but I can see why they don't. Also interesting about the fascination for handhelds in Japan. The report specifically mentioned increase in Western markets, but if Japan previously wasn't a big market neither for the PS5, the question is if it was plentiful anywhere up until now.

 

Regarding the modern tracker, after filtering out some PS4 games played on PS5 hardware, the numbers so far would look like this:

 

Switch: 344750 min
Xbox Series S/X: 69863 min
PS5: 1180 min

 

which perhaps says more about the AtariAge members participating in the tracker than relating to worldwide sales.

[zzip]

9 minutes ago, carlsson said:

Cool. I definitely assumed that stores took preorders but I can see why they don't. Also interesting about the fascination for handhelds in Japan. The report specifically mentioned increase in Western markets, but if Japan previously wasn't a big market neither for the PS5, the question is if it was plentiful anywhere up until now.

It took a while for PS4 sales to catch-up in Japan,  it's really a matter of when quality Japan-centric games become available. 

 

It's not plentiful enough that you are going to walk in a store and see one on the shelves anytime soon,  but on the other hand I didn't think it was that hard to find one once I started following the online trackers.   Only took me about two days of trying.

 

23 minutes ago, carlsson said:

Regarding the modern tracker, after filtering out some PS4 games played on PS5 hardware, the numbers so far would look like this:

 

Switch: 344750 min
Xbox Series S/X: 69863 min
PS5: 1180 min

 

which perhaps says more about the AtariAge members participating in the tracker than relating to worldwide sales.

My main gripe with the PS5 right now is that it's a glorified PS4.  There isn't a lot of great PS5-only content so it doesn't surprise me that people are playing mostly PS4 games on it.   I noticed that AA users skewed more towards Nintendo and Xbox even in the PS4 days.

[Punisher5.0]

I've seen plenty of Series S consoles. A few weeks ago I was on vacation in another state and their local Walmart had 9 in stock. I haven't seen a single PS5, PS4 or Series X on a shelf this whole year.

[Austin]

I've seen approximately two or three Series S consoles (at the same time, and I bought one, heh), and zero PS5 and Series X consoles. Switch units seem plentiful in my area right now, but not the OLED version.

[Steven Pendleton]

I have seen 2 PS5s. One was 74000 yen at Surugaya in Akiba some months ago. PS5 controllers and used and new PS5 games are very easy to find.

 

The vast majority of stores here do not stock anything related to Xbox at all unless it's a place with lots of floor space or the store sells used games, in which case you can sometimes find Xbox. Trader in Akiba has plenty of used 360 games, the Book Off near my house has some used 360 and and Xbox One games (the Tsutaya right next to it has absolutely no used or new Xbox stuff at all), and Yodobashi Akiba has enough floor space to devote some to new Xbox stuff and I did try a demo Xbox One there briefly when it was new, but I have not been there in several years and I don't know what their Xbox Series section looks like or if they even have one.

 

Switch is easy to find. Go to basically any electronics store that sells console hardware or Book Off/Hard Off and they'll have new or used systems and a massive stack of games.

Edited November 18, 2021 by Steven Pendleton

[NeonSpaceBeagle]

I am jumping ship from Playstation to Xbox this gen.  The Forza franchise cemented that for me.  Very angry that i consider myself this planet's biggest car game fan and I completely neglected xbox :/  (because of Wipeout lol).   I just need to find a Series X.  I just recently purchased a used Xbox One X, so not missing out on too much..  I will not buy a PS5 until there's a redesign of both the system AND controllers.  Both are too ugly to allow in my home at this moment in time, sorry.

 

[Hwlngmad]

1 hour ago, NeonSpaceBeagle said:

I am jumping ship from Playstation to Xbox this gen.  The Forza franchise cemented that for me.  Very angry that i consider myself this planet's biggest car game fan and I completely neglected xbox ? (because of Wipeout lol).   I just need to find a Series X.  I just recently purchased a used Xbox One X, so not missing out on too much..  I will not buy a PS5 until there's a redesign of both the system AND controllers.  Both are too ugly to allow in my home at this moment in time, sorry.

 

Forza is (very arguably) the best car racing series going with having Motorsport and Horizon under the umbrella.  It has surpassed the Gran Turismo series, which is a damn shame as Sony has given up the series to some degree.

[Tanooki]

Probably luck, I've never seen either of them whenever I've wandered into multiple stores (a best buy, and a few targets and walmarts) looking for certain things.  Other than finally finding an OLED Switch(white) by dumb luck nearly a week ago, which 1 target had 3, I've never seen those either (yet I do see the normal in various colors, animal crossing, etc) switches and various lites too.

[Video]

Sony disappointed with the 4. Its not the console I have a problem with, its that Sony dropped almost ALL their first party IP's. On the 360-ps3 era I went with xbox, and largely spent the entire generation lusting after ps3 and all my loved Sony ip games. Xbox one was literally unusable due to requiring massive downloads on every game (that I bought) one is one of only two consoles I sold while it was still a viable active console, and the only one I sold without one in reserve. I don't see Xbox xs being any better, and ps5 is probably where Xbox one was last gen.

 

Microsoft's other major problem is, lack of exclusives. Most their first party games can also be had on computer, so if you want Microsoft exclusive, just get a pc, if you just want a console, the ps5 is the only option (I don't count switch, yes its out now, but it barely matched the last gen consoles)

[BawesomeBurf]

I've gotten a couple of emails from Sony offering me a chance to purchase one through them the next day. Have no interest in the system though since there really aren't any exclusives that interest me, so I passed on it. Have not seen any PS5s in stores.