PS5 may have won the big Black Friday battle in the US this November, but the hardware market is in a bit of a mess.
The latest Circana industry report reveals that hardware spending dropped 27% year-over-year, with just 1.6 million consoles being sold in total.
That number combines all devices from all manufacturers, and represents the worst November on record since the Super Nintendo and PS1 were duking it out in 1995.
No manufacturer was safe this year: PS5 dipped 40% year-over-year; the brand-new Switch 2 and Switch 1 combined sold 10% fewer units than just the Switch 1 in 2024; and Xbox stacked another 70% decline, registering an all-time November low for the brand, which was ultimately saw it outsold by the Kinect-esque standalone motion gaming machine, the NEX Playground.
These are devastating numbers for all manufacturers, and while Sony could point to the release of the PS5 Pro last November as a reason for its percentage decline being potentially more pronounced, it’ll come as cool comfort for the console maker.
Price appears to be the biggest issue affecting all platform holders, with the average selling price of a new console this November at $439, an all-time high and up 11% compared to a year ago.
Sony did do some deals throughout the Black Friday period, but after so many price increases over the years, its discounts temporarily returned the PS5 to its launch price – five years after launch.
By comparison, in 2018, you were able to get a PS4 and Marvel’s Spider-Man for under $200, demonstrating just how expensive consoles have become.
A variety of factors have contributed to this: rising component costs, tariffs, and a difficult post-pandemic economy are all to blame.
Realistically, at a time when people are struggling to afford groceries, there’s not a particularly large audience for consoles, which are more expensive than they’ve ever been.
Exactly how the industry is going to navigate this challenging environment remains to be seen. We’ll need to wait and see how December stacks up before we panic too much.
But with RAM shortages threating to increase prices yet again, things may ultimately get worse before they begin to get better again.