The PS5 has ended the Nintendo Switch's nearly three-year bestselling streak in the US.
According to NPD analyst Mat Piscatella, the PS5 was the best-selling hardware platform in September 2021 (in both unit and dollar sales). That means that last month saw the PS5 "snap the remarkable 33 consecutive month streak that the Nintendo Switch was the market's leading platform in hardware unit sales."
US NPD HW - 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).October 18, 2021
The last time a console that wasn't the Nintendo Switch topped the charts was November 2018, when the PS4 was still on top. A combination of factors is likely to have led to the Switch's impressive run - the arrival of new-gen consoles may have dissuaded customers from buying last-gen alternatives, while ongoing supply issues will have made it difficult for the PS5 and Xbox Series X to top the list.
Interestingly, Piscatella states that while the PS5 is the best-selling console in terms of dollars through 2021 as a whole, the Switch has still sold more units. Back in April, the NPD Group confirmed that the PS5 was the fastest-selling console ever in the US, a feat that it repeated in Japan last month. That should come as no surprise, however, as the PS5 is also the fastest-selling Sony console ever - it took just 248 days to top the ten million sales mark, in spite of continued shortages in supply.
Whether the Switch manages to reclaim the throne remains to be seen, especially with Metroid Dread out now, two Pokemon games on the horizon, and new Animal Crossing: New Horizons content arriving next month.
Still need a new console? Here's our guide to how to buy PS5 stock.
