The NPD results for February 2021 have revealed the PS5 to be the fastest selling console ever, with regards to dollar sales amount within its first four months on market.
US NPD HW – PlayStation 5 ranked as the 2nd best-selling hardware platform in February in both unit and dollar sales. PlayStation 5 is currently the fastest selling hardware platform in U.S. history (total dollar sales after 4 months in market).
— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) March 12, 2021
Demand for the PS5 has been high, so much so that even four months on from release, it’s nearly impossible to find with any kind of reliability. New inventory sells out almost instantly and Sony struggles to keep stock of the console at any retailers—with at least partial responsibility going to the shortages of semiconductors and other components. Reports say that these inventory shortages could persist throughout the rest of the year as CPU manufacturers try to keep up.
Inventory is also hampered by scalpers who buy up the new inventory in order to resell it for a profit, keeping it out of legitimate consumers’ hands. These scalpers claim they are being vilified when and say they are just acting as a middleman, like any other business, though frustrated players and even governments have taken a stand against scalpers who purely exist to make profit on scarcity.
Still, despite the constant battles to keep PS5s in stock, Sony is selling enough to fulfill waves of demand and set records as the highest selling console in the US market, as tracked by the NPD. Spending on video games overall is up over this same time last year, setting a February record of $4.6 billion. This is an increase of 35% over February 2020.
On the software side of things, the Nintendo Switch’s Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury dethroned Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War in February 2021 (though Cold War did still come in at second), and that’s even considering a lack of digital sales numbers from Nintendo.
How long do you think Sony can keep setting records with the PS5? Do you think the PS5 will outsell the PS2 in its lifetime? Let us know in the comments somewhere down below all the ads.
