Switch dominated US sales for almost 3 years...until PS5 dethroned it

The Nintendo Switch's 33-month streak has been broken, the NPD Group confirms in its latest U.S. games market report.

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NPD Group's latest market report for September 2021 shows that pandemic-levels of spending are continuing onward. Consumers spent $412 million on video games hardware in September 2021, up 49% over last year, driven by new consoles like the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch. In fact, PS5 sales finally outstripped Switch sales through the month of September, breaking nearly 3 years of Switch dominance.

"PlayStation 5 was the best-selling hardware platform of September in both units and dollars. PlayStation 5 is the best-selling hardware platform of 2021 year-to-date in dollars, while Nintendo Switch leads in units," NPD Group's Mat Piscatella said.

"September 2021 snaps the remarkable 33 consecutive month streak that Nintendo Switch was the market's leading platform in hardware unit sales. November 2018 was the last month a platform other than Nintendo Switch led the market in unit sales (PlayStation 4)."

The PlayStation 5 has currently sold 10.1 million units (as of June 30, 2021) and the Switch is at 89.04 million. Bear in mind the Switch had a 4-year lead over the PS5.

The PlayStation 5's current September lead could be even higher if more PlayStation 5s were available for sale. The console is a big hit in Japan (as is the Switch) and other worldwide regions, and Sony has warned users that supply could remain constrained throughout 2022. As a result, Sony is elongating the PS4's lifecycle and multiple new titles like Gran Turismo 7, God of War Ragnarok, and Horizon Forbidden West are cross-gen releases across PS4 and PS5.