Well actually.. PS2 also came out when their primary competitors Nintendo and Sega fell over and Xbox was really late to the party. Dream Cast (9m) and GameCube (24m) were even worse than the XB1 (48m) and WiiU (13m). PS2 had even less competition.

Yeah, it's weird for sure. I know it comes from the Wii, when Nintendo won the 7th gen "playing dirty", in the sense that they took a different approach to reach it's success( The Blue Ocean Strategy).

Either way, Nintendo will always be there, and any sales analysis without them don't make sense. Which is why they are always included when there is serious discussion about console sales.

No. I've said it before, I'll say it again. PS4 did so well because of the stupidity of Nintendo and Microsoft. Would the PS4 still have cracked around PS1 numbers if Nintendo and Microsoft were more competent? Yeah. But it would not reach 125-135 million like it's projected to right now.
If you include Switch with the PS4 market share, PS4 didn't hit 50%. But if you compare it against Xbox One, or Xbox One and Wii U then the PS4 did hit that. And if we compare the market share of Switch with the PS5 and Xbox Series X, that makes it near impossible for PS5 to hit 50% since Switch had over a 3.5 year headstart.

Well, Nintendo released the Switch years after the PS4 and will release the Switch 2 years after the PS5 so that you will always halve only like half a Switch gen against a full PS gen if you only count the Switch sales till Sony releases a new PS. MS releases everything on PC and soon even as game streaming so that they will never reach 360 sales again (as long as the whole market won't grow a lot) but they obviously know that and care more about their success on all systems combined.

So, yes, if you will count only Switch 2 sales until the PS6 will release, the PS5 will have reach 50% market share. If you will count all Switch 2 sales against the PS5 even some years after the PS6 released then the PS5 probably won't reach 50% market share.

And if you will combine Switch and Switch 2 sales together from the years the PS5 is on the market then the PS5 will probably also not reach 50% market share.

In the end it only reaches the 50% because Nintendo doesn't release their new console just because a new Xbox and PS release.

The funny thing was during those times another hot topic was whether Switch was a home console or a handheld. They bring in market share in the topic because if Switch was a handheld it has 100% market share. If Switch is a homeconsole it will be included with PS4 and XB1. Then there was also the question of where does the Wii U belong to. 

Market share have become a stupid measurement because of the Switch timing. Like we have to wait until how much LT sales the Switch has for the complete gen 8 market share. Same in PS5 case when Switch 2 comes out. 

Launch aligned comparisons are so much better for discussions. Comparing major events like the pandemic which can postively or negatively impact the time the console was out. 

Not counting NS, yes, counting it, absolutely not.

Interesting, if not imo pointless, arguments about which console is which gen. Honestly, I think gens are kinda pointless at this point, but that seems to be a minority opinion. My only thoughts are, if we are using gens to compare consoles, how do people think it makes sense when the majority of a consoles life in that gen do not align with the majority of another consoles lifespan.

I wouldn't say that we shouldn't compare the Switch/PS4/XBONE together. Nor would I say we shouldn't compare Switch/PS5/XBX together. In fact when the Switch2, or whatever it comes to be called happens, it should be compared to the PS5/XBX as well. Weekly, monthly, launch aligned, etc. Especially while they exist as flashships, compare them.

But still context matters. PS4 and XBONE are right now reaching their End as flagship consoles for SONY and MS respectively. The Switch is mid life. Unless Switch were a failure it makes absolute sense that it sells more than two about to be replaced consoles. Of course the fact that the Switch is very popular and accessible makes that sells gap much larger.

People seem not to like to think about the nuance. Fanbois and haters alike. They just wanna spout PS4 wins, Switch is no competition! or Nintendomination! Switch is outselling PS5/XBX! It's a bit more complicated than that.

It's actually more likely that Switch will have 50%+ market share for Generation 9.

MS already did that with the Halo reveal.

If not having 2013 mistakes is enough to convince people...

Lockhart existing officially will play a big role. Will help in lesser developed countries and sell for casuals buying on price alone

Game Pass can potentially be lucrative in a post COVID economy recession.

Studio acquiring spree means more games, more variety, more AAA, and best part: no more game droughts Xbox typically has every gen. 

Seeing the top selling Steam games (Grounded, Sea of Thieves, Halo MCC, Flight Sim should tell us that MS is finally getting their footing with gamers. Their games are resonating with people.

One edge they really have over a PS: their games actually have multiplayer. There is exceptions but for the most part this is true. Games that involve friends playing together can appeal and outlast “one and done” games the competition is now known for.