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Mat Piscatella NPD: the extended sales strength of Switch will likely be the real story of video game hardware in holiday 2020 not PS5 and XBS

Bodomism

Banned
Where do you find these numbers? If Switch is doing so well in USA and we know it's doing well in Japan what markets is it suffering in because there's a big gap worldwide? Is it the UK? I don't see easy to find definite stats on how much of PS4's consoles sold are in America.
YTD
NSW: 5560K (+83%)
PS4: 1890K (-4%)
XB1: 1282K (-5%)

LTD
PS4: ~34.12M
XB1: ~28.79M
NSW: ~22.57M

Playstation 4 outpaces Nintendo Switch in UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Nordic region, benelux, middle east, south east asia, and etc.

Nintendo Switch outpaces PS4 in US, Japan, France, Canada, China, South Korea, Taiwan, and etc.

PS4 has a big advantage over Switch in EU but Nintendo Switch is starting to close the gap in 2020.

Nintendo Switch on the other hand in Japan has enormous lead against PS4 that totally offset PS4 numbers in EU.

Launch aligned number


Nintendo Switch is going to leave PS4 behind with 0 room for PS4 to close the gap.

Next quarter will change everything and Nintendo Switch will be the second fastest selling hardware after NDS.
 
The PS4 is ahead because of time, not geography. Launch aligned Switch is ahead of PS4 by shipments (although undoubtedly PS4 will win some countries such as New Zealand and Italy). I don't think we have exact sales for the US but given the fact that Switch is setting records then it is likely that Switch will eventually outsell PS4 in the US.


It's tracking behind the Wii though and PS4 has outsold the Wii, so these assumptions don't necessarily track Nintendo is a bit of an outlier when it comes to these things they're hard to predict. Even then it's only slightly above where PS4 was at this point in time which is pretty interesting considering people are saying it's this absolute monster. They also seem to be equating shipments with console sold through and I'm not sure that's the right thing to do. the switch could very well become the best selling console that ever existed I just don't think the current evidence means you can assume these things.
 

TLZ

Banned
What else are you going to buy when both nextgen systems are out of stock?

Besides, this guy sucks anyway.
 

Woopah

Member
It's tracking behind the Wii though and PS4 has outsold the Wii, so these assumptions don't necessarily track Nintendo is a bit of an outlier when it comes to these things they're hard to predict. Even then it's only slightly above where PS4 was at this point in time which is pretty interesting considering people are saying it's this absolute monster. They also seem to be equating shipments with console sold through and I'm not sure that's the right thing to do. the switch could very well become the best selling console that ever existed I just don't think the current evidence means you can assume these things.
The graph is comparing shipments to shipments. Sales are tricky since NPD stopped sharing numbers. Also bear in mind that the graph is from August this year, so that was with PS4 having an extra holiday. By January the gap will be much much bigger.

Switch and PS4 are on very different sales curves from the Wii and I expect both to outsell the Wii in the US (and worldwide) in the end.

My current prediction is that Switch will outsell the PS4 but not outsell the PS2 or DS.
 

Coolwhhip

Neophyte
What else are you going to buy when both nextgen systems are out of stock?

Besides, this guy sucks anyway.

giphy.gif
 

Bodomism

Banned
It's tracking behind the Wii though and PS4 has outsold the Wii, so these assumptions don't necessarily track Nintendo is a bit of an outlier when it comes to these things they're hard to predict. Even then it's only slightly above where PS4 was at this point in time which is pretty interesting considering people are saying it's this absolute monster. They also seem to be equating shipments with console sold through and I'm not sure that's the right thing to do. the switch could very well become the best selling console that ever existed I just don't think the current evidence means you can assume these things.
Nintendo Switch will overtakes Nintendo Wii after this quarter launch aligned.

Nintendo Switch is currently following NDS sales trajectory and not Nintendo Wii.

After this Quarter Nintendo Switch vs PS4 vs Wii in 46 months

46 months on the market

Wii - 76 million units
PS4 - 66 million units
NSW - ~80 million units(estimated number(68.3M+11.7M of Q3)
 
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Coolwhhip

Neophyte
To keep this going Nintendo really needs to have a killer 2021 though. Release a Switch Pro and some heavy hitters.

It's shocking to me they managed to have NOTHING for this holiday.
 
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leo-j

Member
The PS4 is ahead because of time, not geography. Launch aligned Switch is ahead of PS4 by shipments (although undoubtedly PS4 will win some countries such as New Zealand and Italy). I don't think we have exact sales for the US but given the fact that Switch is setting records then it is likely that Switch will eventually outsell PS4 in the US.



I don’t trust the current switch numbers. Once Wii hit 100 million the sales dropped harder than PS4 sales are dropping right now. Especially after Kinect and move came out actually. I think Nintendo has a cap w sales, DS saw the same thing after hitting 150 million. Ps4 is seeing it at 115 million right now.
 

Woopah

Member
I don’t trust the current switch numbers. Once Wii hit 100 million the sales dropped harder than PS4 sales are dropping right now. Especially after Kinect and move came out actually. I think Nintendo has a cap w sales, DS saw the same thing after hitting 150 million. Ps4 is seeing it at 115 million right now.
What don't you trust about the numbers? Yes Wii reached about 100 million, but DS sold much more than that. There is no "cap" which sales just stop at.

If we look at the sales curve of the Switch, it is nothing like that of the Wii. Switch hardware sales will peak much later in its lifespan (4th or maybe even 5th year, depending on the 2021 lineup).
 

TalentedMrJ

Member
Only because the other two are much more supply-constrained. If Sony and MS could fulfill the entire demand, there's no doubt the Switch would be a distant third, so that's irrelevant.

Unfortunately we will never know for sure cause they are unable to meet demand

How can they both be so unprepared?

I wonder if they do this "supply constraint" BS to generate more buzz during the holidays???
 

Ogbert

Member
I definitely see Switch slowing down.

They’re going to release BoTW 2, Monster Hunter, Metroid Prime 4 and we will likely get Odyssey 2 and Mario Kart 9.

They’re so screwed.
 
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SonyGAF literally can't deal with these news lmao.

"B-but muh pixel fillrate!"

Not really I'd guess a lot of Sony fans embraced Switch as their portable system after Sony killed Vita.

After all Sony and Nintendo have similar business model of selling hardware through their first party game.
 

KingT731

Member
I definitely see Switch slowing down.

They’re going to release BoTW 2, Monster Hunter, Metroid Prime 4 and we will likely get Odyssey 2 and Mario Kart 9.

They’re so screwed.
Who is "they" ? Why does one company doing well mean the others have to be doing terrible around here?
 

yurinka

Member
Well, its normal. Switch is on its peak year of its life cycle, at the same time the other consoles are just releasing or sunseting, periods where consoles have low sales compared to their own peak years.

In this context it's to be expected that Switch should become the best selling console of the year, and it would be some sort of disaster if Switch doesn't achive it. When we launch align the consoles by quarters/FY, this year Switch also has been the first time it outsold PS4 worldwide, which on its 8th FY is the best selling console ever worldwide.

PS5 also debuted with the best worldwide launch sales in gaming history for any console or portable, beating the historical record that PS4 had. And claims to have achieved the best launch for an Xbox console.

So all of them must be happy.

PS4 selling 39K in the last October and Nintendo Switch selling 739K in that month as well.
They had to make room in shipments and storage for PS5, which on early next month was going to have the biggest launch ever in gaming history. So it's pretty likely that they had to reduce the PS4 shipments during late October and probably November and December to make room for PS5 units.

And well, a console is sunseting and seeing its succesor being replaced the following month, so it's a point of its lifecycle with low sales, and many of its potential buyers also waited that month to get the following month the PS5 instead. Meanwhile, Switch (which in addition to cover console market now also has the monopoly of the handheld market) is on its peak year of its sales lifecycle.

These numbers make sense and are to be expected. And a similar story will happen in November, because we know both MS and Sony were supply constrained an sold out everywhere so even if PS5 has a historical record launch month with over a million copies, Switch won't be supply constrained and is cheaper so it will be the best selling one in USA for November and very likely December too as XSX and PS5 will continue to be supply constrained until next year.
 
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hemo memo

Gold Member
Everyone is talking about PS5/SX despite not everyone got them. 3rd party will soon move on and most games will skip current gen consoles including the Switch.
 

MagnesG

Banned
Well, its normal. Switch is on its peak year of its life cycle, at the same time the other consoles are just releasing or sunseting, periods where consoles have low sales compared to their own peak years.

In this context it's to be expected that Switch should become the best selling console of the year, and it would be some sort of disaster if Switch doesn't achive it. When we launch align the consoles by quarters/FY, this year Switch also has been the first time it outsold PS4 worldwide, which on its 8th FY is the best selling console ever worldwide.

PS5 also debuted with the best worldwide launch sales in gaming history for any console or portable, beating the historical record that PS4 had. And claims to have achieved the best launch for an Xbox console.

So all of them must be happy.
Haha your statements changes minute by minute. Yes it's to be expected yes.
 

leo-j

Member
What don't you trust about the numbers? Yes Wii reached about 100 million, but DS sold much more than that. There is no "cap" which sales just stop at.

If we look at the sales curve of the Switch, it is nothing like that of the Wii. Switch hardware sales will peak much later in its lifespan (4th or maybe even 5th year, depending on the 2021 lineup).

i do not trust the trends for nintendo platforms, the majority of the wii’s life was way better than ps2 numbers, despite this the console sold tens of millions less than the ps2. Nintendo platforms tend to die out dramatically whem they reach a certain number. Switch hasthe advantage of being the successor to the wii and the ds tho, so maybe 150 million isn’t it’s cap, but I do not believe if will outsell the DS.
 

Woopah

Member
i do not trust the trends for nintendo platforms, the majority of the wii’s life was way better than ps2 numbers, despite this the console sold tens of millions less than the ps2. Nintendo platforms tend to die out dramatically whem they reach a certain number. Switch hasthe advantage of being the successor to the wii and the ds tho, so maybe 150 million isn’t it’s cap, but I do not believe if will outsell the DS.
I agree that outselling the DS is unlikely.

However, Switch is not selling like the Wii. At this point in its life Wii sales were declining Year on Year, Switch sales are still growing YoY.

The most important ingredient in all of this is software. Let's compare the two systems after 45 months.

  • Wii was about to receive it's last big games in holiday 2010. By 2011 third parties had almost abandoned it and Nintendo's first party teams were all moving on to support the launch of the 3DS and Wii U
  • Switch is seeing third party support increasing and 2021 is likely to be the console's best year so far for third party sales. Nintendo hasn't revealed most of their 2021 line up yet, but they've made it clear that Switch is only in the middle of its lifespan and they are not launching a successor anytime soon (a revision is likely however).

They are very different systems. Using Wii to try and predict the Switch's sales is like using PSP to predict PS4's sales.
 

yurinka

Member
Haha your statements changes minute by minute. Yes it's to be expected yes.
No, I basically say the same.

All consoles are on a great point considering the point they are on their lifecycle. Taking that into consideration -they point of the lifecycle where each one is- it isn't surprising to see Switch as the best selling console in both October, November and December because it's on the year where a console sells more units, while the other ones are in a point where they sell way less units and in addition to this they are supply constrained. And they produced more units for launch than ever did before, and during a huge worldwide pantemic so I assume they weren't able to produce more units for that first batch. Later in the road, over time they will be able to increase more their production but it isn't something they can do in a couple of days, they need years or at least months.

And well, it also has the additional perks of being cheaper, having a monopoly on the handheld space, etc which I consider in this case something secondary because for these specific months I understand that the other things like being supply constrained and their point on their lifetime are more important.
 
When I couldn't get a PS5 or series x this holiday I seriously considered getting a switch because I had that fever in me to get a new console. But I get this feeling that it still doesn't have enough games I'd love, a new Metroid prime would remedy that though. To me that's a killer app that sells me on a console.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
Nonsense. it's a handheld masquerading as a console. it is an entirely different market and the switch is irrelevant when it comes to comparing it with the PS5 and XSX console market.

NPD analysts like Matt completely ignoring this fact shows just how much they know about this industry. The fact that the PS4 continued to sell despite Switch setting records is proof that the switch is not replacing that console or taking sales away from it. They dont have the latest and greatest games. You want to play CoD, Ass Creed, Watch Dogs, Cyberpunk or any of the AAA games released this fall, you are not buying a switch over a console.

Switch isnt the real story. It's doing what the DS did a decade ago. It's as irrelevant as it comes when it comes to the console market.
 

Woopah

Member
Nonsense. it's a handheld masquerading as a console. it is an entirely different market and the switch is irrelevant when it comes to comparing it with the PS5 and XSX console market.

NPD analysts like Matt completely ignoring this fact shows just how much they know about this industry. The fact that the PS4 continued to sell despite Switch setting records is proof that the switch is not replacing that console or taking sales away from it. They dont have the latest and greatest games. You want to play CoD, Ass Creed, Watch Dogs, Cyberpunk or any of the AAA games released this fall, you are not buying a switch over a console.

Switch isnt the real story. It's doing what the DS did a decade ago. It's as irrelevant as it comes when it comes to the console market.
But NPD reports on all dedicated video game devices, not just conoles. So in that regard Switch is just as relevant as all the platforms.

Switch isn't at DS levels, but if any platform did manage to do what the DS and PS2 did that would be a very big story.
 

Bodomism

Banned
Nonsense. it's a handheld masquerading as a console. it is an entirely different market and the switch is irrelevant when it comes to comparing it with the PS5 and XSX console market.

NPD analysts like Matt completely ignoring this fact shows just how much they know about this industry. The fact that the PS4 continued to sell despite Switch setting records is proof that the switch is not replacing that console or taking sales away from it. They dont have the latest and greatest games. You want to play CoD, Ass Creed, Watch Dogs, Cyberpunk or any of the AAA games released this fall, you are not buying a switch over a console.

Switch isnt the real story. It's doing what the DS did a decade ago. It's as irrelevant as it comes when it comes to the console market.
Last October sales data
US - NSW 736K and PS4 39K
JP - NSW 354K and PS4 15K
 
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bukowski81

Member
Oh, Mat "hot take" Piscatella is back. He's doing is best to beat Pachter at his own game.

PS5 and Xbox Series X are getting all the headlines because they're the relevant hardware now. That's what being "the real story" means. Contrary to popular belief, people don't play sales.



Only because the other two are much more supply-constrained. If Sony and MS could fulfill the entire demand, there's no doubt the Switch would be a distant third, so that's irrelevant.
Dude it's not like the switch wasnt also outselling ps4 and xbox one every damn year, or what dumb ass excuse do you have for that?

The switch is outselling everything because is a more appealing console for most people, end of story.
 

ReBurn

Gold Member
Switch is a nice piece of kit. It proves hands down that good games are more important to more people than raw power and pretty graphics. The hardcore basement dwelling gamer snob doesn't rule gaming any more. Casual is the new king. Switch gamers don't have time to fight over 3 FPS frame rate drops. They're too busy actually playing games.
 

carlosrox

Banned
Casual is the new king.

I mean, tons of people who play Xbox and PS are casual as all fuck so I'm not sure where this narrative comes from that says otherwise. A lot of people parrot that just to feel better about themselves. I bet most of us know more people who own PS consoles just for COD and sports shit than people who own the Switch just for Mario Kart.

For every casual Nintendo player out there who just buys Mario Kart there are probably just as many PSBox gamers who bought the shit just for Fifa, Madden, AC, COD, etc.
 
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THE DUCK

voted poster of the decade by bots
Just need a switch pro please this year.......
I'll be even happier if its not a portable and plays switch games at higher res, plus new 4k ones.
 

oagboghi2

Member
When I couldn't get a PS5 or series x this holiday I seriously considered getting a switch because I had that fever in me to get a new console. But I get this feeling that it still doesn't have enough games I'd love, a new Metroid prime would remedy that though. To me that's a killer app that sells me on a console.
Stop trying to make this a thing. This is not how consumers think
 
Switch is a nice piece of kit. It proves hands down that good games are more important to more people than raw power and pretty graphics. The hardcore basement dwelling gamer snob doesn't rule gaming any more. Casual is the new king. Switch gamers don't have time to fight over 3 FPS frame rate drops. They're too busy actually playing games.

Most of the best games released in a year don't come out on the switch.

Stop trying to make this a thing. This is not how consumers think

I was relating my own personal experience and feelings I don't care whether or not you think it's a thing as a matter of fact get bent.
 

iconmaster

Banned
Switch will break records this holiday, no doubt. It’s a perfect storm of pandemic plus supply-constrained competition plus Nintendo itself firing on more cylinders than usual.

However, what I’m most interested in seeing are the sales on Home Circuit. I suspect those could be eye-opening.
 

ReBurn

Gold Member
I mean, tons of people who play Xbox and PS are casual as all fuck so I'm not sure where this narrative comes from that says otherwise. A lot of people parrot that just to feel better about themselves. I bet most of us know more people who own PS consoles just for COD and sports shit than people who own the Switch just for Mario Kart.

For every casual Nintendo player out there who just buys Mario Kart there are probably just as many PSBox gamers who bought the shit just for Fifa, Madden, AC, COD, etc.
Probably comes from the same place as the narrative that "hardcore" gamers are actually hardcore and thats somehow better than being a casual gamer.
 
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