Key insights
- PS5 sales tripled those of the Nintendo Switch, which still outperformed the Xbox.
- Microsoft is struggling as Xbox sales decline compared to the competition.
- Sony dominates Black Friday with better-selling PS5 competitors; indicates new steps in the gaming industry.
With Black Friday deals still ongoing and rolling into Cyber Monday, November has officially come to an end, prompting analysts to start estimating last month's sales data.
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Just two days into the new month, an analyst shared his findings, noting that the PS5 sold significantly better than its competitors in November, while the Nintendo Switch outperformed the Xbox's console offerings eight years into its life cycle.
PS5 sold three times as many consoles as Nintendo Switch, which in turn sold more Xbox
Over on the Install Base forums, analyst Welfare shared his insights, particularly focused on Amazon sales in the month of November.
They estimate that the PS5, buoyed by the launch of the PlayStation 5 Pro, sold around 153,000 units last month, up around 25 percent from the November 2023 estimate of 122,000 units. Wohlfahrt estimates that Sony sold between 20,000 and 30,000 PS5 Pro consoles on Amazon, with around 90,000 PS5 Slims making up the majority of sales.
With Switch 2 news seemingly imminent, sales of the eight-year-old Nintendo console fell significantly from 143,000 in November 2023 to 56,000 this year. But despite a sharp decline, the Nintendo Switch still managed to outperform the Xbox, which Welfare estimates sold around 32,000 units in November 2024.
Despite a sharp decline, the Nintendo Switch still managed to outperform the Xbox.
It's likely worrying, but not at all surprising, news for Microsoft as Xbox has struggled with its competitors in recent years. Despite an incredibly successful Call of Duty launch this year, supported by Xbox Game Pass subscriptions, the company has suffered hundreds of layoffs across its gaming departments over the past two years. However, Microsoft has defiantly confirmed that it won't be giving up on console gaming anytime soon.
Nintendo, on the other hand, should be pleased with the sales. Given that 2024 was a particularly quiet year with no major tentpole releases, continuing to sell so many units is a blessing. However, whether the console will surpass Sony's revised 160 million PS2 sales and become the best-selling console of all time remains to be seen.
Sony, whose latest console sales surpass those of the PS4, is Black Friday's biggest winner, selling almost three times as many consoles as its biggest competitor. Like Nintendo, the console has had limited initial releases this year, making its year-over-year growth doubly impressive. The company also appears to be making big moves, with plans to buy Elden Ring's parent company Kadokawa and rumors that it is making a new handheld console for the first time since 2011's PlayStation Vita.
PlayStation 5 Pro
The PlayStation®5 Pro console allows the world's best game developers to enhance their games with incredible features like advanced ray tracing, crisp visual clarity for your 4K TV, and high frame rate gameplay. This means you can play PS5® games with the most impressive graphics ever possible on a PlayStation® console.
PS5® Pro is a fully digital console without a disc drive. Sign in to your PlayStation™Network account and go to PlayStation™Store to purchase and download games. You can also add a disc drive to your PS5® Pro console if you want to play PS5 or PS4 games on Blu-ray™ discs or watch movies and TV shows on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray™ discs (Blu). -ray™ discs and DVDs.
