Circana analyst Mat Piscatella reported on October 9, 2026, that US Xbox vs PlayStation sales have dropped to early 1980s levels as hardware prices rise. Year-to-date data through August shows Xbox hardware unit sales fell 33% compared to last year, while PlayStation hardware units dropped 25% [1]. That leaves Xbox unit sales at an all-time low in the United States, and it is PlayStation’s lowest point since 2013 [3]. Rising component costs have forced repeated retail price increases, prompting Piscatella to warn that the “US hardware market has not been in a more precarious position since the early 80s” [2].
Circana Tracks Steep Drop in Xbox vs PlayStation Sales
Piscatella shared the numbers on Bluesky. Price hikes slowed purchases across American stores [2]. For the year-to-date period ending in August 2026, the average price a consumer paid for a new Xbox console reached $529, which is 26% higher than a year ago. During that same period, the average price for a new PlayStation console rose 20% to $597 [1]. Both numbers sit at all-time highs in the United States, and buyers aren’t willing to absorb those costs [2].
Price sensitivity is now a major barrier for manufacturers. Circana’s data shows that gamers are pushing back against high hardware prices [1]. “Both prices are at all-time US highs,” Piscatella said on social media [2]. “Price sensitivity is becoming a real problem.” While platform holders previously lowered console prices over time to build larger player bases, hardware costs are now rising instead [1]. That pricing pressure alters how consumers manage gaming budgets, much like players cancelling Xbox Game Pass over recurring subscription price increases when monthly fees climb too fast [2].
Piscatella looked back at earlier downturns. He said the market hasn’t looked this shaky since the early 1980s [1]. That era was marked by the downturn between 1983 and 1985, during which spending on home gaming systems dropped by 97%, sliding from roughly $3.2 billion down to $100 million. The console business isn’t facing that severity of collapse today, but hardware shortages and rising costs have produced conditions that analysts haven’t encountered in decades [2].
Rising Hardware Costs Push Retail Prices to All-Time Highs
Expected mid-generation discounts have vanished. A new PS5 Pro costs $900. The disc-based Xbox Series X runs $800. Nintendo has joined that upward pricing trend as well, with a second Switch 2 price hike pushing the base model of that system to $500. Console makers aren’t absorbing hardware manufacturing costs anymore, leaving consumers to cover component inflation directly [2].
Sony adjusted prices in April. The company raised the base PlayStation 5 and Digital Edition by $100 each while increasing the PS5 Pro by $150 to $899.99. Because each console carried a bigger price tag, Sony saw its console revenue increase 17% during August despite moving 11% fewer machines. Consumers bought fewer consoles overall, but they paid much more money for each system they took home. It’s a pattern where dollar growth masks shrinking unit volume across retail channels [3].
Black Friday may offer only limited discounts [2]. Component shortages have made hardware availability tight, and new PS5 Pro stock dried up so quickly that GameStop now prices used consoles well above brand-new systems. That unusual retail pricing shows how distorted the market has become, as tight inventories keep used hardware prices higher than original manufacturer list prices. Gamers face steep costs on every shelf, and manufacturers can’t produce extra inventory to meet demand without paying steep component fees [1, 3].
August US Data Shows Xbox and PlayStation Sales Plummeting
August brought a sharp summer slowdown. US retail stores moved 559K units during the month, representing a 15% annual contraction and marking the lowest August volume since 2013. PlayStation hardware units fell 11% to reach the platform’s lowest August tally since 2013, while Xbox units plunged 31% to hit their lowest August total since 2020. Even Nintendo hardware unit sales dropped 15% during the month, proving that no manufacturer escaped the consumer pullback [3].
Average hardware prices hit a record $541 in August, up from $476 a year ago. In platform rankings, Nintendo Switch 2 led the US market in both unit sales and total dollar volume for August and the full year-to-date period. PlayStation 5 placed second across both metrics, while Xbox Series S|X finished in a distant third position. That breakdown answers whether Xbox or PlayStation has more sales, showing that Sony holds second place while Microsoft falls well behind in domestic hardware volume [3].
Spending softened across other sectors too. Software and subscription patterns showed similar softness across the American market, as total player expenditure contracted 9% during August to $4.3 billion. Mobile spending dragged the broader market down with an 18% drop, while console content spending declined 7% during the same month. PC content was a rare bright spot for the industry, rising 13% as desktop computer players continued buying new titles. On Circana’s year-to-date premium software sales chart, Capcom’s Resident Evil: Requiem held the number one spot, leading a top ten lineup that also includes 007 First Light and NBA 2K27 as publishers wait for holiday releases [3].
AI Memory Shortages Strain Console Component Production
Engineers call the crisis RAMaggedon. Memory suppliers are directing massive amounts of RAM toward server facilities that require huge volumes of high-speed memory chips [1, 3]. Since data facilities yield higher financial returns, chip manufacturers supply enterprise server farms before allocating inventory to home gaming hardware. That supply bottleneck leaves Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo competing for fewer components, driving procurement costs higher and limiting the number of systems factories can build [1].
Asha Sharma described the financial strain. The Xbox boss detailed how quickly storage expenses grew after taking leadership of the division. “When I joined as CEO in February, the price we paid for console storage components was over 2x as high as we paid last fall,” Sharma said. “These costs have since doubled again. And as we plan for the 2027 holiday season, we expect another significant increase, taking us over 5x the prices we paid only two years earlier.” Her statement reveals that production costs have multiplied far faster than retail sticker prices [1].
Supplies will not recover quickly. Micron’s chief executive cautioned that tight component supplies could last through 2028, indicating that manufacturers must endure high memory costs for years [1]. Acer’s CEO said it’s “impossible” for memory shortages to last until 2030, but cautioned that average PC prices will still climb 5% to 20% by the end of 2026. These supply crunches show that console makers aren’t raising prices out of greed; they’re paying vastly higher bills just to keep production lines running [1, 2].
Can Grand Theft Auto 6 Rebound Xbox vs PlayStation Sales?
Retailers need a blockbuster turnaround. Faced with slumping hardware sales, stores are counting on Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto VI to revive consumer interest when it launches on November 19 [1, 3]. Industry watchers hope the release will motivate players who have delayed buying modern hardware to finally purchase a new console, boosting seasonal retail traffic. Piscatella said the arrival of the game might “help ease at least some of these declines,” giving stores a much-needed lift as the holiday shopping rush begins [1, 2].
Hardware availability remains an open question. Any sales rebound from Grand Theft Auto VI depends on whether manufacturers can supply enough hardware to meet retail demand [1, 3]. Piscatella pointed out that any recovery depends on pricing and “product availability,” since factories can’t build consoles without adequate memory inventory [1, 2]. If RAM supplies remain tied up in server facilities, Microsoft and Sony won’t be able to manufacture enough systems to satisfy holiday shoppers [1]. Furthermore, asking shoppers to spend $800 on an Xbox Series X or $900 on a PS5 Pro creates a high hurdle for gaming households [2].
Piscatella summarized the current retail environment bluntly, stating that “the US hardware market has not been in a more precarious position since the early 80s.” [1, 2]. As console makers move into the final months of 2026, the clash between rising memory costs and consumer price limits will decide how many machines actually leave store shelves. Unless memory chip prices stabilize or manufacturers find ways to lower production expenses, home consoles will remain expensive luxury hardware rather than mass-market living room devices [1, 3].
- ONLINE NEWS Serin, K. (2026, October 9). As Xbox and PlayStation sales reach new lows, analyst says the “US hardware market has not been in a more precarious position since the early 80s”. Eurogamer.net. [Article Link]
- ONLINE NEWS Gerblick, J. (2026, October 9). US console market hasn’t been “in a more precarious position since the early 80s,” analyst says as PS5 and Xbox Series X price soar to all-time highs. GamesRadar+. [Article Link]
- ONLINE NEWS Palumbo, A. (2026, October 9). Circana’s Mat Piscatella warns US console market is most precarious since early 1980s, as Xbox hardware units crash 33%. Wccftech. [Article Link]
