- November saw a waning appetite for gaming hardware sales
- Xbox was the hardest hit, with a sharp 70% year-over-year decline
- The company’s price increases, among other factors, are likely to blame
This year, especially November and its various year-end sales events like Black Friday, has not been kind to gaming hardware sales.
Although the Nintendo Switch 2 has been very successful in its first six months on the market, the same cannot 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 despite heavy discounts on PlayStation hardware last month.
Even Nintendo suffered a bit, with combined Switch 2 and original Switch sales down 10% from last year’s Switch-only performance. Although it was Microsoft’s Xbox line that fell the hardest, plummeting a frankly staggering 70% year-over-year.
There are a couple of 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, the price of the Xbox Series X|S had increased by $100 in the US. A few months later in September, another price squeeze hit the consoles.
The worst offenders are the Xbox Series X, which rises to a sickening $649.99, and the Xbox Series X Galaxy Black Special Edition jumps to the princely sum of $799.99. Yes, it’s $100 more expensive than a PS5 Pro.
Factor these price increases in with Xbox’s multi-platform 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 need to factor in the ongoing global cost of living crisis. In a world where basic necessities are becoming increasingly expensive, and at an alarming rate, it’s especially hard to justify dropping as much as $800 on a half-decade-old game console.
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