PS5 more than doubled Xbox Series X/S sales in Q1 2021

A recent report from Ampere Analysis indicates that the PS5 sold roughly twice as many units as the Xbox Series X/S did in the first quarter of 2021. The Nintendo Switch however, outsold both of them combined.

The data from the research firm puts PS5 sales figures at 2.83 million units. Sony has confirmed that 3.3 million units were shipped in the three months ending March 31, 2021. Though supply issues have held back the full potential of the console’s sales.

The firm puts Xbox Series X/S sales at 1.31 million units, though again there have been supply issues with this console. Microsoft hasn’t backed up these figures with its own, but it did state that hardware revenue was up 232 percent and was driven by these new consoles. Given the price of the consoles, it’s hard to judge just what this means.

As expected, Ampere’s Analyst Piers Harding-Rolls added that both of these consoles have suffered from supply constraints. The semiconductor shortage is affecting all tech industries, though console manufacturers are being hit particularly hard. Even Nintendo is expecting to see a drastic fall in Switch sales due to the lack of resources available to make them.

Nintendo sold 5.86 million Switch consoles in this first quarter, which is up 12 percent year-on-year. It’s no surprise that the console sold so well with games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons to attract new players. Without much competition until the end of 2020, it was the best-selling console for most of the year.

It’s likely that the Switch will continue to outsell both the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S until the semiconductor shortage hits home. At that point, there will be a struggle between the tech industry giants to see which one of them gets the lion’s share of the parts.

This will no doubt harm these companies in terms of revenue for the year. However, with such a big year for sales in 2020, 2021 was always going to see a slight dip. That dip might be larger than anticipated now though.