- November saw a dimishing appetite for gaming hardware sales
- Xbox was hit the hardest, with a sharp 70% decline year-over-year
- The company's price hikes, among other factors, are likely to blame
This year, particularly November and its various end-of-year sales events like Black Friday, has not been kind to gaming hardware sales.
While the Nintendo Switch 2 has been very successful in its first six months on the market, the same can't really be said for other console manufacturers. Speaking to IGN, Circana senior director and industry analyst Mat Piscatella revealed that PS5 sales were down 40% year-over-year. That's in spite of strong discounts for PlayStation hardware last month.
Even Nintendo suffered slightly, with combined Switch 2 and original Switch sales down 10% from last year's Switch-only performance. Though it was Microsoft's Xbox line that fell off the hardest, plummeting by a frankly staggering 70% year-over-year.
There are a few clear reasons for this drop-off. While all major console manufacturers have applied price increases to their hardware, Microsoft was particularly aggressive. Back in May, Xbox Series X|S priced spiked by $100 in the US. A few months later in September, another price push hit the consoles.
The worst offenders being the Xbox Series X rising to a nauseating $649.99, and the Xbox Series X Galaxy Black Special Edition jumping to the princely sum of $799.99. Yes, that's $100 more expensive than a PS5 Pro.
When you factor in these price hikes with Xbox's multiplatform strategy - meaning you can essentially get its games and services on other platforms - and it's easy to see why consumers would have little appetite for Microsoft's products.
Of course, you also have to factor in the ongoing global cost-of-living crisis. In a world where basic necessities are growing ever more expensive, and at an alarming rate, it's especially tough to justify dropping as much as $800 on a half-decade-old games console.
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