PS5 to sell twice as much as Xbox Series X in 2022 says analyst – but Switch will beat both

PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles — Can either console knock the Switch off it’s throne? (pic: Metro)

It’s predicted the PS5 will outperform the Xbox Series X this year, but demand for the OLED model will push the Nintendo Switch to the top.

Even with the ongoing chip shortages, availability for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles is set to improve, albeit slowly, over the course of 2022.

As such, industry analyst Piers Harding-Rolls of Ampere Analysis believes that while both consoles will remain in high demand, the PlayStation 5 will ultimately outperform both Xbox consoles.

‘It looks like the availability of PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles is going to improve slowly over the year and our expectation is that Sony will outsell Microsoft two-to-one,’ he says.

A sales chart by Ampere Analysis shows that the PlayStation 5 sold more than the Xbox consoles in 2020 and 2021. As such, it predicts that the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S collectively will push at least 9 million units this year with the PlayStation 5 to sell twice as much at 18 million units.

ð®Last year the console market saw strong consumer demand met by pressure on availability of components. How will this evolve in 2022? – @PiersHR
Xbox Series: 9m.
PlayStation 5: 18m
Nintendo Switch: 21m
Watch the full video here: https://t.co/qE2HwpcTFZ pic.twitter.com/5mqbZeDkIh

— Ampere Analysis (@AmpereAnalysis) January 20, 2022

Good news for Sony then, but Harding-Rolls adds that the Nintendo Switch will continue to dominate the charts and sell at least 21 million units in 2022.

The same chart shows that it vastly outperformed both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in 2020, although that’s because the newer consoles released towards the tail end of the year.

Despite also being affected by the chip shortage, the Switch maintained its lead into 2021, a lead Harding-Rolls fully expects it to hold thanks to the continued demand for the new OLED model.

The Switch OLED model released in October and while it wasn’t the fabled Switch Pro that many believed it would be, its new OLED screen and other improvements still proved popular with consumers.

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It’s still only January, however, and any announcement from one of the big three could potentially shake up the playing field. Microsoft’s recent acquisition of Activision Blizzard could see an uptick in Xbox sales once Activision’s backlog makes its way to Game Pass, although the deal won’t be finalised until 2023.

Meanwhile, Sony is expected to announce its own Game Pass service to replace PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now. Such a thing has been speculated for a while and the recent removal of PS Now gift cards has people thinking it’s imminent.

As for Nintendo, there are currently no confirmed hardware updates or revised models, with the Switch Pro becoming a faded memory at this point. However, the company already has several major software releases scheduled for 2022, including Pokémon Legends: Arceus and the sequel to The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild.