Video Gaming ETFs to Shine Bright on Soaring Sales in March
Zacks Investment Research | Apr 24, 2021 07:00AM ET
The coronavirus outbreak has been a blessing in disguise for the video gaming industry. The pandemic has confined people indoors to minimize human-to-human contact. This in turn has resulted in increased demand for in-house sources of entertainment, driving video games sales. Notably, consumer spending on video games in the pandemic-stricken 2020 touched a new record of $56.9 billion, rising 27% from 2019, per The NPD Group. Markedly, the latest report from the industry-tracking firm highlights the same story.h3 Video Game Sales Continue Rising/h3
Recently-released data from The NPD Group reflects that the video game industry, including packaged media, digital, consoles and accessories, saw strong sales in March, with people spending a total of around $5.6 billion. Notably, the figure has risen 18% year over year.
On the hardware front, consumers spent $680 million, up 47% year over year with Nintendo Co.’s (OTC:NTDOY) Switch (NYSE:SWCH) being the hottest-selling console again. In fact, Nintendo Switch had stood out as the best-selling hardware platform in units and dollars for last December and full-year 2020.
In this regard, The NPD Group’s Mat Piscatella, Industry Analyst, U.S. Games said that “Nintendo Switch was the best-selling hardware platform in both units and dollars during the month of March. In the first quarter, Nintendo Switch was the unit sales leader while PlayStation 5 ranked first in hardware dollar sales,” per a VentureBeat article. Going on, Mat Piscatella has also mentioned that “PlayStation 5 is the fastest-selling console in U.S. history in both unit and dollar sales [through] lifetime sales with five months on the market,” per the article mentioned above.
It is worth noting here that PlayStation 5 had exited 2020 as the second best-selling console in dollar sales, while PlayStation 4 grabbed the second position in units sold, per the sources.
Notably, users spent around $4.63 billion on Video Game Content (Physical & Digital Full Game, DLC/MTX and Subscription across Console, Cloud, Mobile, Portable, PC and VR platforms) in comparison with $4.06 billion in the year-ago period, Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
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