Welcome everyone to the VGChartz Gap Charts January 2021 Discussion Thread. This thread is a place for everyone to discuss the latest VGChartz Gap Charts articles for the month of January 2021. Everyone is welcome to post Gap Charts articles I haven't done so yet.  You can view the ones currently posted here. 

Previous months:

• September 2019
• October 2019
• November 2019
• December 2019
• January 2020
• February 2020
• March 2020
• April 2020
• May 2020
• June 2020
• July 2020
• August 2020
• September 2020
• October 2020
• November 2020
• December 2020

You can read the complete first article and analysis here:

Switch vs PS4 vs Xbox One Global Lifetime Sales - January 2021

Welcome to the latest edition of the ‘Switch vs PS4 vs Xbox One Worldwide’ article. This series compares the monthly and lifetime retail sales of the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

Looking at the total sales of the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Switch through January 2021 shows how the Switch has been consistently gaining on the lifetime PS4 sales and growing its lead over the Xbox One. The PS4 is ahead of the Switch by 36.3 million units and the Xbox One by 65.3 million units. The Switch is ahead of the Xbox One by 29.0 million

The PS4 is 3.76 million units away from outselling the Game Boy, which sold 118.69 million units lifetime. The Switch is 2.46 million units away from outselling the PSP, which has sold 81.09 million units lifetime. The Xbox One 0.37 million units away from crossing 50 million units sold.

The Switch passed the 78 million mark. The PS4 has sold 114.93 million units lifetime, the Switch 78.63 million units, and the Xbox One 49.63 million.

Looking at the marketshare, the PlayStation 4 currently leads. The PlayStation 4 has a 47.3 percent market share, the Switch sits at 32.3 percent, and the Xbox One at 20.4 percent.

PlayStation 4 Total Sales: 114,934,524

Switch Total Sales: 78,631,440

Xbox One Total Sales: 49,631,052

During the month of January 2021, the Switch outsold the PlayStation 4 by 1.39 million units for the month and the Xbox One by 1.56 million units. The PlayStation 4 outsold the Xbox One by 172,242 units.

When you compare monthly sales to a year ago, the Switch is up, while the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are down. The Nintendo Switch is up 87,425 units (5.6%), the PlayStation 4 is down 552,522 units (-67.7%) and the Xbox One is down 245,692 units (-61.6%). It should be noted, January 2020 includes 5 weeks for VGChartz tracking, while January 2021 is 4 weeks.

Looking at the marketshare, the Switch managed to achieve 82.4 percent of the monthly sales. The PlayStation 4 accounted for 13.1 percent of the consoles sold, and the Xbox One 4.5 percent.

PlayStation 4 Monthly Sales: 263,150

Switch Monthly Sales: 1,652,151

Xbox One Monthly Sales: 90,908

The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One launched in November 2013, while the Switch launched three years and four months later in March 2017.

As a reminder, VGChartz tracks consoles sold to consumers and not units shipped.

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Switch vs Wii Sales Comparison – Switch Lead Tops 5M in January 2021

This monthly series compares the aligned worldwide sales of the Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo Wii.

Switch Vs. Wii Global:

Gap change in latest month: 952,370 - Switch

Gap change over last 12 months: 8,140,817 - Switch

Total Lead: 5,454,542 - Switch

Switch Total Sales: 78,631,440

Wii Total Sales: 73,176,898

January 2021 is the 47th month that the Nintendo Switch has been available for. During the latest month, the Switch has grown its lead by 952,370 units when compared to the launch aligned sales of the Wii. In the last 12 months, the Switch has outsold the Wii by 8.14 million units. The Switch is currently ahead of the Wii by 5.45 million units.

The Wii launched in November 2006, while the Nintendo Switch launched in March 2017. Therefore, the holiday periods for the two consoles do not lineup, which is why there are big increases and decreases.

The 47th month for the Nintendo Switch is January 2021 and for the Wii it is September 2010. The Switch has sold 78.63 million units, while the Wii sold 73.18 million units during the same timeframe. The Wii sold current Switch sales in month 50.

The Wii sold 101.63 million units worldwide during its lifetime. The Switch needs to sell another 23.00 million units to outsell the Wii.

Switch needs roughly 3.5 million within the next 3 months to keep the lead after Wii 2010 holiday season. It is 13 weeks, so Switch needs an average of 270k/week. Should be rather easy as long as nintendo can deliver enough Switches. ;)

Look at that drop December to January! The cliff is HERE!

So Switch remains 3 months ahead of the Wii, a month after the holiday season. With just the one big holiday season left for Wii, Switch might be ahead permanently if supply doesn't bottleneck. Switch only needs to keep the lead for the next four months and then Wii runs out of gas.

Man, imagine going back to 2015 and trying to convince people that the Wii U's successor would outsell the Wii...

It's funny that the Switch had a ~12m deficit against the Wii at one point.  But the reality is that no system can beat the Wii in the short term.  Switch took longer to get going, but it peaked higher than the Wii.  That's really a much healthier sales curve.  The Wii has almost no gas left in the tank from this point on, but the Switch still has lots of life left in it.

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PS4 and Xbox One vs PS3 and Xbox 360 Sales Comparison – January 2021

This monthly series compares the combined aligned sales of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One with the combined aligned sales of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Gap change in latest month: 719,611 - PS3 & X360

Gap change over last 12 months: 7,174,013 - PS3 & X360

Total Lead: 6,527,771 - PS4 & XOne

Total Combined PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 Sales: 158,037,805

Total Combined PlayStation 4 and Xbox One Sales: 164,565,576

In January 2021, the gap grew in favor of the combined sales of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 when compared to the aligned launch of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in the last month by 719,611 units. In the last 12 months, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 have caught up by 7.17 million units. The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One lead by a combined 6.53 million units.

The 87th month for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One is January 2021, while for the Xbox 360 it is January 2013 and for the PlayStation 3 it is January 2014. This does mean the holiday periods for all four consoles are lined up.

The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in their first 87 months sold a combined 158.04 million units, while the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One have sold a combined 164.57 million units. It took until month 97 for the PS3 and Xbox 360 to sell as many units as the current PS4 and Xbox One sales.

The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 sold a combined 173.22 million units lifetime. The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are currently 8.65 million units away from surpassing the PS3 and X360.

For a while there this looked like a slam dunk for PS4 + Xbone but with their legs proving shorter than expected I'm now leaning towards PS360. Still, it's far from a done deal and could still go either way.

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Switch vs DS Sales Comparison - January 2021

This monthly series compares the aligned worldwide sales of the Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo DS.

Switch Vs. DS Global:

Gap change in latest month: 191,638 - DS

Gap change over last 12 months: 86,672 - Switch

Total Lead: 1,376,761 - DS

Switch Total Sales: 78,631,440

DS Total Sales: 80,008,201

January 2021 is the 47th month that the Nintendo Switch has been available for. During the latest month, the gap grew in favor of the DS by 191,638 units when compared to the Switch during the same timeframe. In the last 12 months, the Switch has caught up to the DS by 86,672 units. The DS is ahead of the Switch by 1.38 million units.

The DS launched in November 2004 in North America, December 2004 in Japan, and March 2005 in Europe, while the Nintendo Switch launched worldwide in March 2017. Therefore, the holiday periods for the two consoles do not lineup, which is why there are big increases and decreases.

The 47th month on sale for the Nintendo Switch is January 2021, while for the DS it is September 2008. The Switch has sold 78.63 million units, while the DS sold 80.01 million units during the same timeframe.

The Nintendo DS sold 154.02 million units lifetime. The Nintendo Switch is currently 75.39 million units behind the lifetime sales of the DS.

Gap change in latest month: 191,638 - DS

Gap change over last 12 months: 86,672 - Switch

This race is a marathon and not a sprint.  DS has a lot of speed at this point, but Switch just needs to stay reasonably close, which you can see it's doing from the two numbers I copied above.  DS is going to get a decent lead after its respective holiday, but that won't be a big factor in the long run.  The bigger factor is legs over the next several years.