PlayStation console sales have plummeted to early 2000s levels

Xbox sales also declined, though the drop remains smaller than the losses seen by Sony consoles.

May 2026 was a difficult month for the US console market. Circana reported that PlayStation 5 unit sales fell by 58 percent compared to last May, marking the platform’s weakest May performance since 2000. Xbox Series consoles also faced a downturn, with sales falling 12 percent to set a new record low for the month.

Total consumer spending on gaming hardware grew by 38 percent to reach 249 million dollars despite the dip in unit demand. The Nintendo Switch 2 drove this growth, leading in both total units sold and revenue for the year. The console reached an installed base of 5.9 million units in its first year, making it the second fastest-selling gaming system in US history behind the Game Boy Advance.

The average price of a new gaming console rose to 502 dollars in May, up from 440 dollars the previous year. PlayStation 5 prices jumped 33 percent to an average of 672 dollars, while Xbox Series units increased by 22 percent to average 524 dollars.

Microsoft plans another price increase starting August 1, 2026. The 1TB digital Xbox Series X will cost 749.99 dollars, and the 512GB Xbox Series S will cost 499.99 dollars. Since the 2020 launch, the disk-drive version of the Series X has risen in price by 300 dollars, and the Series S by 50 percent.

Microsoft attributed these changes to the ongoing shortage of components. The company stated that memory and storage prices have already risen more than 2.5 times and expects costs to double again by autumn 2027.