PS5 Sells Over 1.3M, All Consoles Drop YoY - Worldwide Hardware Estimates for March 2024 - Sales
by William D'Angelo , posted on 02 May 2024 / 10,080 Views
The PlayStation 5 was the best-selling console worldwide with 1,338,835 units sold for March 2024, according to VGChartz estimates. The PlayStation 5 has now sold an estimated 56.89 million units lifetime worldwide.
The Nintendo Switch sold an estimated 945,038 units to bring its lifetime sales to 139.50 million units. The Xbox Series X|S sold 350,932 units to bring their lifetime sales to 28.30 million units. The PlayStation 4 sold an estimated 6,238 units to bring its lifetime sales to 117.17 million units.
PS5 sales compared to the same month for the PS4 in 2017 are down by over 153,000 units, while the Xbox Series X|S compared to the same month for the Xbox One are down by nearly 193,000 units. PS4 sold 1,492,148 units for the month of March 2017 and Xbox One sales were at 543,701 units.
PlayStation 5 sales compared to the same month a year ago are down by 559,982 (-29.5%). Xbox Series X|S sales are down by 189,542 units (-35.1%) and Nintendo Switch sales are down by 157,039 units (-14.3%). The PlayStation 4 is down by 18,904 units (-75.2%) year-over-year.
Looking at sales month-on-month, PlayStation 5 sales are up by over 6,000 units, Xbox Series X|S sales are up by nearly 32,000 units, and Nintendo Switch sales are up by over 147,000 units.
2024 year-to-date, the PlayStation 5 has sold an estimated 4.11 million units, the Nintendo Switch has sold 2.78 million units, and the Xbox Series X|S has sold 1.07 million units.
Check out the breakdown of the Americas sales here, the Europe sales here, and the Japan sales here.
Monthly Sales:
Global hardware estimates for March 2024 (Followed by lifetime sales):
- PlayStation 5 - 1,338,835 (56,894,112)
- Switch - 945,038 (139,500,394)
- Xbox Series X|S - 350,932 (28,302,131)
- PlayStation 4 - 6,238 (117,167,646)
- PlayStation 5 - 630,302
- Switch - 273,769
- Xbox Series X|S - 236,462
- PlayStation 4 - 1,306
- PlayStation 5 - 370,659
- Switch - 186,915
- Xbox Series X|S - 84,683
- PlayStation 4 - 1,066
- Switch - 454,778
- PlayStation 5 - 278,283
- Xbox Series X|S - 20,182
- PlayStation 4 - 3,755
- PlayStation 5 - 46,591
- Switch - 29,576
- Xbox Series X|S - 9,605
- PlayStation 4 - 111
Weekly Sales:
Global March 9, 2024 hardware estimates:
- PlayStation 5 - 284,007
- Switch - 204,591
- Xbox Series X|S - 76,043
- PlayStation 4 - 2,452
Global March 16, 2024 hardware estimates:
- PlayStation 5 - 273,309
- Switch - 169,764
- Xbox Series X|S - 65,105
- PlayStation 4 - 1,159
Global March 23, 2024 hardware estimates:
- PlayStation 5 - 270,498
- Switch - 186,080
- Xbox Series X|S - 70,005
- PlayStation 4 - 786
Global March 30, 2024 hardware estimates:
- PlayStation 5 - 250,745
- Switch - 179,206
- Xbox Series X|S - 66,666
- PlayStation 4 - 1,215
Global April 6, 2024 hardware estimates:
- PlayStation 5 - 260,276
- Switch - 205,397
- Xbox Series X|S - 73,113
- PlayStation 4 - 626
VGChartz Methodology: Hardware estimates are based on retail sampling and trends in individual countries, which are then extrapolated to represent the wider region. This typically allows us to produce figures that end up being within 10% of the actual totals.
This data is regularly compared against official shipment figures released by the console manufacturers and figures estimated by regional trackers with greater market coverage than ourselves. We then update our own estimates to bring them into line with those figures. This can result in frequent changes often within a short space of time, but we feel it's important to prioritise accuracy over consistency.
Note that our estimates are based on sell-through data (units sold to consumers). In almost all cases the figures released by console manufacturers are based on shipment data (sell-in), where as soon as a device has left the factory and entered the supply chain for delivery it is considered a sale. This is why there is always a difference between the companies’ figures (sell-in) and VGChartz estimates (sell-through), even after we’ve made adjustments. The one exception to that is when a console has been discontinued and the remaining stock has finally sold out – at that point the figures will match.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.
More Articles
Sure sales are down, but 1.3 million and 950k for PS5 and Switch is far from bad. Although US is really carrying PS5 and Asia is carrying the Switch.
Honestly PS5 is suffering from being stubborn on price and from releasing games on PC. Helldivers exclusive would have definitely gotten a lot of PC people to move to PS5. Them staying at $500 for the model most would look at this far into the gen is crazy and they NEED to get that entry point lower. Switch hasn't had a price cut but started so much lower that it's understandable. They're already at mass market price.
Here you say switch hasn't had a price cut but in a comment below you said "If you're making a cheaper entry point and it plays all the same software then it's a pricecut". Going by that definition you would consider the Switch lite a price cut because it plays all the same software
Switch got 3mil this quarter. Utter insanity. If it were to keep this pace, that’s around 13-14mil in 2024.
(also, it’s now officially 2:1 PS5 v XBSX….ouch!)
It's an amazing success story for Nintendo, it just truly is. Nothing but congrats!
(But don't they get too close to that PS2, please. ;D)
13-14 million for the 2024 calendar year would be insane.
That would put sales at just about 150M. Which with the typical shipment gap after the holiday would see Nintendo reporting 152/153M shipments.
That would almost guarantee 2nd highest selling console at that point and passing PS2s last official number. Then the slow climb to 160M (unofficial PS2 number) would depend on the successor.
158,7m ps2*
Probably more, Switch’s winter shipments normally account for around 1/5th the yearly total, often less.
For the quarter: PS5 4.11m, NSW 2.78m and XBS 1.07m.
Microsoft needs help. That literally tracks Xbox to sell ~3/4mil this calendar year, around the same amount as Wii U. If this is how next gen goes, that’s the end of Xbox.
Probably 5.5m to 6m this CY for XBS
PS5 will outsell Xbox One lifetime sales by end of April (57.96 m)
Switch lead over PS5- 82.6 million
PS4 lead over PS5- 60.3 million
PS5 lead over xbox- 28.6 million
Before last year's holiday season, I hoped the Switch would reach 140M at the end of the Q4 FY 2023. It came close, though. But the Switch came to a point where every unit sold matters if it wants to surpass DS's and PS2's numbers. Half a million means a lot right now. That being said, 139.5 M is still very impressive number
With the rumoured delay of the Switch 2, the Switch 1 still has a chance of surpassing the 160 mill sold by the PS2. In next weeks financial report Im expecting Nintendo to announce that by 31st March they shipped around 142 million Switch's. Im then expecting them to project around 11 million in Switch sales for the 24/25 financial year. If they hit that projection, by March 25 Switch will be on 153 million. It'll have no problem selling the 8 million necessary to exceed PS2 before Nintendo cuts production. Even the Wii managed 5.77 million after the Wii U launched.
If we go buy the parallel of sold and shipped. Nintendo has shipped 142.08M.
And I expect 12M as the FY goal.
Do you have the Switch's numbers for April 2023 until March 2024? I was wondering about 23-24 FY numbers but I can't find it easily
I base the numbers off of what is released. And so far there is only Jan-March worldwide numbers. We are still waiting on Nintendo's Yearly Report for the official numbers.
VGChartz has the sold units up to date.
I go buy a rule I've coined as Parallels of Sold and Shipped. Which is if it has been sold, there has been a unit shipped to replace it. 1 unit Sold = 1 unit Shipped. And based on that Switch is at 142.21M with the available information.
The number of sold from April 2023 to March 24 is at 16.52M units sold. So Nintendo blew their FY goal out of the water, being 15.5M
If the PS5 manages to maintain this pace of 4 million per quarter, then it will end the year with more than 70 million units sold. How many units did the ps4 sell by the end of 2017?
It's a bit surreal that Switch sales are less down than PS5 or Xbox Series year-over-year and Switch is more up month-on-month than the others.
This should put the Switch at around 142.08M shipped. It's almost there.
Is the ps5 sales high due to Rebirth and helldivers?
PS5 sales are normal, not high
PS5 is the only PlayStation to not have had a price cut this far into a generation so when you consider that it's performance is actually very good. In fact, it might be the only console that made it this far into a generation without a price cut but I cannot confirm that as fact
Had the Switch ever gotten a price cut? The PS5 is the best selling console with a price increase though.
I think the Switch lite counts as a price cut, the same way the Slim versions of consoles still count as price cuts even though they're technically a different version of the console
That is not a price cut. Yes, it is cheaper but you get a lesser product. A price cut is the same product for a lesser price.
I would argue that if it plays switch games the same as the other models it's the same product. Does the removal of one feature mean it's a different product, or the same product with one less feature.
Wii mini didn't have wifi but it was still a wii. PS3 cut out the ps2 back compat but it was still a PS3. Switch lite removed TV play but it's still a switch
The idea that the Switch Lite is a price cut is moronic at best. It's missing a very major component compared to a Switch, one that dramatically changes gameplay so, it"s not a price cut, it is a new version of the Switch.
What you'd argue is besides the point. The Switch has not received an official price cut and that point is not debatable.
then what would you call the PS3 without the back compat or the Wii mini without the WiFi. They are technically different products, so going by your logic those are not price cuts either.
I don't know. I guess you could argue they aren't price cuts either. It starts to become a very grey area in those instances. Unfortunately this isn't always going to be a black and white situation. With the Switch though it's very clear it's not a price cut. Smaller screen and no docking station. Also no removeable joy cons. Just to many differences between the two.
Yes but the whole point of making those changes was so that they could cut the price of the system down to 199$. Same with the PS3 no back compat and wii mini. All decisions were motivated by price cut possibility
Sure but at a certain point the product is so different that calling it a price cut in the way we talk about doesn't work.
Like if MS only released the Xbox series X. Then like 2 years later they released the Series S but still called it the Series X and gave it a price cut. Would you consider that a price cut? I assume not. The product is very different at that point. IMO when you change to much from the original product it's no longer a price cut. What that line is, is going to change from person to person but that's how I see it.
That's a bad example. those systems are different in every way. Size. inner components. power draw. heat dissipation. disk drive. They are clearly totally different. Differences between switch and switch lite are so minimal that Nintendo themselves called them both "switch". It's in the name. They're both switches, Just one is cheaper.
And yet Robert Downey does consider it a price cut which goes right back to my point. It's just going to depend on where each individual thinks it's too different to be the same. We can go back and forth all day but Rober Downey just solidified it for me it's become an opinion at this point. Some will consider it a price cut others wont. No point in debating anymore really cause there's no real answer its all just based on what the individual thinks.
If you're making a cheaper entry point and it plays all the same software then it's a pricecut
This is what I mean Hardstruck doesn't agree with you and neither do I. Everyone is going to have a different cut off on how different the systems can be and still be considered a price cut.
Isn't he agreeing with me though?
No because in his example series s/x play the same software so it's a price cut.
We're still agreeing. If they release a model without the disc drive it will still be called XBSX, despite the loss of functionality. Just like the Xbox one All digital
But you just said the Series S/X isn't a price cut because they are totally different? Now you agree that it is a considered a price cut?
They would legally not be allowed to call them exactly the same because of the power draw differences. If someone had an accident because they were both called the same but had very different power draws, there'd be major lawsuits blaming MS for the accident.
If they were the same power draw, and played the same games then yes. it's a price cut. We are still agreeing, it's just your giving an example that legally couldn't happen anyway
Ok so then you do think the series s is a price cut for the X?
Robert_Downey_Jr said that if it plays software the same as the other model then it's a price cut. The Series S cannot do Split screen in in BG3. So it cannot meet that criteria. Switch lite can play all the software normal switch can. Someone tried to point out that it can't, but if you wirelessly connect joy cons then it still plays all games
He didn't say if it "plays software the same". He said "if it plays all the same software". So as long as the Series S can play all the games the Series X can it's a price cut. On top of that BG3 was the first game. So for the first 3 years you saw the Series S as a price cut?
I don't even see the Series S as a current gen console, let alone a price cut version of the Series X. Why do you have to use such a bad example. Why can't you use the PS2 slim without the hard drive bay? The Wii mini without the wifi. The ps3 no back compat version
I'm using it because it's to show just how impossible it is to really even argue it these days. Me, you, and Robert all have different opinions on what is considered a price cut. To me this has sort of just become an opinion topic now and there is no clear distinction anymore.
I guess it's something we could only conclusively solve by asking Nintendo themselves what they consider it as.
You can't play ring fit adventure or the labo games on switch lite
Then that wouldn’t include the Switch Lite, since there are a few dozen games that don’t work on it: including some pretty big ones like Ring Fit, rhythm boxing, 1-2 Switch, Mario Party, and all the Labo and Just Dance games on account of Switch Lite being a different form factor.
I think most of those games do work on switch lite, it's just that you have to have to wirelessly connect the joy cons to play them
I would argue it depends on use cases. The OG Switch is TV, Portable and tabletop. The Lite only handheld. So different use cases.
For the same reason I would not consider a later gen PS3 a pricedrop against the OG PS3 becauce it lost PS2 backwards compatibility and therefore a use case.
Just because a more affordable SKU is introduced does not necessarily mean the original functionality (use case) became more affordable in the case of functionality is deleted.
I think this is wrong because we have the 2DS to act as a great example. For legal reasons Nintendo would have had to change the name of the 3DS to the 2DS because of the loss of 3D as a feature, which the 3DS was based on. The name change reflects not a different product, but the same product (a DS) without it's core feature. The name 3DS would have technically been a lie and they could get sued over
The conclusion is...a product with fewer use cases doesn't mean a different product. If it did, they would have had to change the name of the wii mini, cheaper non back compat PS3. and switch lite.
I'm actually surprised Nintendo were allowed to even called the switch lite a switch, because the name switch implies switching between TV and handheld. But it is called a switch so technically it's just a cheaper, cut price switch
This is an accurate context behind the raw numbers, yes. And is actually quite impressive.
Comparing estimates now, this would indicate they've sold ~21.3m units in their fiscal year.
With probably ~23m-24m units being totally shipped.
I just wonder:
Now that we know Sony won't release any big 1st party games until March '25, what are they cooking behind the doors? How much are they excited for the year 2025 to start and further?
If they'll release the games everybody thinks they've been working on, then PS5's latter half could truly turn into an even bigger success than its first years already were.
GTA6 not even mentioned.
Your 23/24 million shipment estimate is too high.
Sony already overshipped PS5s during the holiday season to create a sizable gap between shipments and sales. They aren’t going to overship again this quarter.
PS5 shipped 38.4M units by the start of FY23/24.
23/24 million shipments for the fiscal year would be 61.4/62.4M units shipped despite only 57M being sold.
Usually the shipment to sales gap is 2/3 million. Not close to 5 million.
Shipments will be more like 59/60M total at their next financial update.
If, throughout the now closed fiscal year of 2023, Sony approx. sold 21.3m units (according to the estimates), why do you think a shipment of 23/24m units throughout the same time period is too high?
That's approx. 1.7-2.7m being "in stock" globally.
I won't argue that I am right/wrong, it just seemed to me to be decent guesstimate of how many units they might have shipped in a 12 month period, in which they approx. sold 21.3m of them.
The Switch hasn’t had one either, and it has been on the market for longer. The main reason systems didn’t get a price cut is inflation during the coronavirus outbreak. Currencies dropped too much in value.
Switch lite. It's a cheaper switch and if it wasn't just a cheaper switch Nintendo wouldn't have called it "switch"
Technically Switch Lite is a handheld and Switch is a hybrid console with detachable controllers. It's not the same as a slim version, which replaces the previous model, neither a price-cut. It's a different model which is offered simultaneously for a long period.
If you compare it with Sony, it's more comparable with PS4 and Vita, and I wouldn't call Vita a price cut for PS4 and neither a slim version. Switch and Switch Lite share the same library, though.
Well, no disrespect but I think comparing the Switch and Switch lite to the PS4 and Vita is just crazy and I have no idea how to respond to that
The Switch Lite hasn't dropped in price either.
And I don't know if you're aware, but the Switch Lite isn't just some rebranding to replace the Switch, it's literally a different hardware with a different form factor. The original Switch is still in production to this day.
