PS5 Is the Fastest Selling Console In US History | Screen Rant
Sony's PlayStation 5 has reached yet another commercial milestone, as it has become the fastest-selling console in United States history. The latest reports comes just a couple of months after it was announced that the PS5 was January's best-selling console in the US by the same firm, NPD Group.
Despite being continuously difficult for the average customer to actually find (thanks to a variety of factors, with scalpers being a primary bottleneck), the PS5 has already pulled in a colossal amount of sales revenue. In January alone, the PS5 raked in up to $170 million from sales, breaking the Nintendo Wii's twelve-year record. Though these are just US figures, the console has performed similarly well while having the same stock and production constraints in most regions overseas.
According to the latest NPD report (thanks, GamesIndustry.biz), the PS5 is now officially the fastest-selling piece of hardware in total dollar sales in US history. The report also found that PS5 came in second place in terms of hardware sales in February, losing out only to the four-year-old Nintendo Switch (which had another record-breaking month). However, that can likely be attributed to the PS5's extremely limited retailer supply and Nintendo having had much more time to produce units.
This PS5 achievement comes with a key qualifier, though, as it's in terms of total dollar sales. Essentially, the PS5 made the most money in the specified time frame of four months compared to any other hardware platform before it. Console prices have risen steadily throughout the years due to a mix of factors such as inflation, so this record would have been broken sooner rather than later - nevertheless, it's still a significant milestone for Sony.
Due to scalper-exacerbated supply shortages, the PS5's sales figures are likely not as impressive as they could otherwise be, so it makes sense that dollar sales would be the metric chosen here. Still, the PS5 costs more than the Nintendo Switch (and the $400 disc-less PS5 also costs more than the $300 Xbox Series S), so it already had an advantage in that regard. This doesn't undermine the PS5's accomplishment by any means, as it is not fully Sony's fault that it can't make enough consoles to meet demand.
As the PS5 continues to become more and more available, its collection of accomplishments will only grow. At the moment, the console is currently suffering from a lack of real games to play, but this will eventually pass as Sony begins to roll out its first-party exclusives as Sony Interactive Entertainment finishes playing catch-up from the first year of the COVID-19 crisis.
Source: GamesIndustry.biz