Switch may have claimed the mantle of being the top selling console in the United States for 2018, but per the latest financial reports from Sony and Nintendo, it seems like Sony won the battle worldwide. In 2018, the PS4 managed to sell 17.7 million units worldwide—2.5 million units from January to March, 3.2 million units from April to June, 3.9 million units from July to September, and 8.1 million units from October to December.
Meanwhile, the Switch sold 17.4 million units worldwide in this period—2.93 million units from January to March, 1.88 million units from April to June, 3.19 million units from July to September, and 9.42 million units from October to December.
The final result puts PS4 ahead by 300,000 units. It’s a small number, but the PS4 comes in ahead anyway. This, naturally, has a lot to do with how incredible a year PS4 had last year in terms of games, which enabled it to sell to this degree in its fifth year on the market, and of course, conversely, Nintendo’s relative underperformance with the Switch in the first half of the year.
Going into 2019, Switch should be able to be the top selling system globally, given that it is entering its peak years. But if there is one thing we have learned, it’s that we should never count out the PS4 from reckoning.