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After Two Months Of Switch At No. 1, PS4 Leads US Hardware Sales In May

PS4 topped Switch in the US last month.

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The NPD Group has released its monthly sales report for the United States in May, and the PlayStation 4 came out as the month's top-selling hardware. That puts an end to a brief run by the Nintendo Switch, which had been the top seller in its first two months on the market.

As is the norm, we didn't get exact sales figures, so it's unclear exactly how much the PS4 topped Switch by; Switch had sold 280,000 units in the US during April. There was also no mention of the NES Classic Edition's performance. The system was the No. 2 seller in April behind Switch, but it was also discontinued that month.

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Overall, hardware sales reached $147 million for the month, an increase of 7%. This is attributed to Switch, which NPD analyst Mat Piscatella described as the "primary catalyst for hardware spending gains." For the year overall, hardware spending is up 18% according to NPD data. Piscatella noted that spending on consoles has offset a decline in portable sales.

Total sales across the industry in the US were actually down 11% for the month, dropping to $542 million from $610 million a year ago. That's due to a big drop in software sales, which were down 20% year-over-year to $271 million from $339 million. PC software sales were down 48% to $23 million from $12 million, though keep in mind this--like much of NPD's data--is not a complete picture, as it doesn't include Battle.net sales, for one. The decline in software can be attributed at least in part to a difficult comparison with last year's releases, which included Overwatch and Uncharted 4.

On the accessories side, sales were roughly flat at $112 million (up from $111 million). Controller sales were up 6%, with the Switch Pro Controller being the month's top seller. In terms of software, the debuting Injustice 2 came out in the top spot, with two Switch games making the top five. You can check out the full May 2017 top 10 here.

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