The Nintendo Switch continues to do very well, selling the most devices of all other gaming hardware in the US in January, according to gaming analyst The NPD Group. But Sony’s PlayStation 5 still made more money last month, despite a more limited offering.
According to NPD’s January report, the Switch was the top-selling hardware platform in terms of units sold in January – the highest of any platform in that particular month since the Nintendo Wii in 2010. Despite this, Sony’s next-gen console earned the highest dollar sales. total for the month of January, breaking the previous Nintendo Wii record in 2009.
There are a few reasons why the Switch may have sold more units but made less money than the PS5. Most notably, the PS5’s starting price starts at $ 100 more than the Switch, with the digital PS5 selling for $ 400 and the disc drive for $ 500.
The PS5 has been out for nearly three months, as has the Xbox Series X / S, the PS5 very difficult to buy, with retailers primarily selling online due to severe supply shortages. With no signs of retailers selling the PS5 in stores anytime soon due to the ongoing pandemic, the only way you can buy a PS5 from a store is to wait for another wave of PS5 restocks to appear online. But when they do, they usually sell out in minutes, and Sony’s strong numbers for the month suggest it will go through its stock ASAP. NPD’s report makes no mention of Microsoft’s new Xbox consoles.
Nintendo’s console has also been hit by the pandemic as the Switch was a little hard to find last spring, but stocks have remained relatively healthy since then. The Switch has also seen restocks of the base console and various bundles, including limited-edition versions such as the newly released Mario theme bundle.