PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch are all selling extraordinarily well right now, at least in the United States (worldwide, though PS4 and Switch continue to set records, the Xbox One has been flagging). For the Switch, it makes sense, given that it is new and Nintendo has supported it with some very strong games, but the PS4 and Xbox One are now five years old each, and yet haven’t experienced as much of a slowdown.
Why is that so? How is it that these consoles are still selling north of million units in the US alone in a month? Speaking to GamingBolt, Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter said that great bundles, pricing, and a library of great games has continued to sell these systems.
“Well, obviously there’s greater demand, there’s really good games, there’s some bundles,” he said. “You’re getting some pretty good games thrown in, on the Switch in particular- Mario Kart was thrown in for free, which is a pretty big deal. And none of them are particularly expensive. I think the Switch is pretty expensive at $299, but the other two guys are pretty consistently priced at that or below, with giant libraries of content, so it makes sense.”
He also mentioned that Fortnite’s popularity has been driving console sales as well.
“I think even Fortnite become quite a popular game has had an impact. You’ve got parents that are reaching down now and buying consoles for their nine year-old kids, and they weren’t doing that before.”
Of course, going into 2019, sales for the PS4 and Xbox One are going to see a major drop off. Both consoles have now entered the decline phase of their lives, and are in the final stages of their life cycles. While I expect both to sell well still, I think they’ll be down significantly over this year. In the end, their sales this Holiday season were a good victory lap for them as they enter the sunset years of their lives.