Nintendo’s incredible rebound year got even better this week as The NPD Group on Thursday released its sales report for the month of August, revealing that the Switch once again outsold the PS4 and Xbox One in the US to take the top spot in console sales. This marks the fourth time in the past six months that the Switch has earned the title, with the PS4 beating out the Switch in May and June.
While the Switch has become the console to beat ever since it launched in March, NPD says that the PS4 is still the best-selling console of 2017 so far. The group doesn’t release specific numbers, so we don’t know how close the two consoles are, but it appears Sony’s two month head start has given it the cushion it needs to maintain its lead. It will be fascinating to see if Sony can stay on top throughout the holiday season, though if Nintendo can’t produce enough Switch consoles to meet demand, it won’t be much of a competition.
While hardware spending year-to-year dropped 6% to $168 million in August, total hardware sales for 2017 are actually up 17% to $1.7 billion, due in large part to Nintendo’s resurgence. In fact, with the holiday season and the launch of the SNES Classic Edition fast approaching, 2017 could end up being a massive year for hardware sales, despite the fact that Sony and Microsoft are four years into their console cycles.
Some other interesting tidbits from the August report: Nintendo has three games in the top 10 for software sales, accessory sales are up 10% and Grand Theft Auto V is somehow the second best-selling game of the month.
