Before crucial season, Nintendo struggles as Sony shines

As 2017 came to a close, Nintendo was busy reveling in the sales of Sony's PlayStation 4 was showing signs that it was peaked. Leading into the all-important 2018 holiday season, the comparative industry warriors seem to have changed.

Let's start with Nintendo, which recently announced worldwide shipments of 3.2 million Switch systems in the July through September quarter. The good news is, that 's up slightly from the 2.93 million sold in the same period a year ago. The bad news is that it does not put Nintendo on track to meet its long-standing projection for $ 20 million in the fiscal year (which ends in March 2019). Overall, Nintendo 's quarterly profits and revenues are well below, but they are up from a year prior.

A strong holiday season could give Nintendo the boost it needs to hit that target, of course. Goal Nintendo's next two months feature a couple of major first-party titles-November's Pokémon: Let's Go and December's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate-Alongside a laundry list of third-party ports and downloadable indie games.

The worry for Nintendo is that last year's pent-up demand for marquee Mario and Zelda titles (not to mention Mario Kart and Splatoon sequels / remakes) has already been spent, so to speak. Nintendo's 2018 first-party releases-including Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze, Kirby Star Allies, and Mario Tennis AcesLast week's Nintendo juggernauts. That relative first-party software trickle may not be enough to sustain sales Metroid and Pokémon games show up.

Sony, meanwhile, is seeing resilience for the PS4 during its fifth full year on the market. The console shipped 3.9 million units in the last quarter, down slightly from 4.2 million a year ago, but not down nearly as much as expected in late 2013. Overall, the PlayStation division's quarterly profits were up 65 percent year over year, with sales up 22 percent; both figures exceeded analyst expectations.

The PS4's prospects have been boosted by an exclusive pair of this year: God of War in April, which sold 3.1 million copies in its first three days; and Spiderman in September, which sold 3.3 million in its opening weekend. And while the Switch is struggling to attract many major third-party titles, games like Red Dead Redemption II, Battlefield V, and Fallout 76 Sony's (and Microsoft's) console this holiday season.

Nintendo and Sony 's stock market performance shows just how much the day has gone by. Since the beginning of the year, Sony's stock is up just over 11 percent, while Nintendo's is down nearly 17 percent. Not exactly what would have been predicted for this point going into 2018.