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The story
Xbox and PlayStation sales have fallen into a record slump in the US home console market. Unit sales for the January–August 2026 period dropped 33% year-over-year for Xbox and 25% for PlayStation. Rising component prices have also pushed average purchase prices to record highs, with the PS5 hitting its lowest level since 2013 and Xbox its lowest since 2020. On 5ch’s hardware/industry (“Geha”) board, data was posted showing that the Nintendo Switch2 topped both unit sales and revenue in the US over the same period, sparking debate over which data could be trusted. Some pointed out that Japan is the only country where Xbox is outselling its previous generation, drawing attention to the stark contrast between the domestic and overseas markets.
In the US home console market, Microsoft’s Xbox and Sony’s PlayStation have fallen into a record sales slump. Unit sales for January–August 2026 were down 33% year-over-year for Xbox and 25% for PlayStation. Tariffs and rising AI-related demand have driven up component prices, pushing up console prices as well. With no clear timeline for next-generation consoles, the market is facing a difficult situation.
A major factor behind the sales slowdown is the rising price of the consoles themselves. From January to August 2026, US consumers paid an average of $529 (about ¥83,582) for a new Xbox console, up 26% year-over-year. PlayStation also rose 20% to an average of $597 (about ¥94,326). Average purchase prices for both brands hit record highs, with falling unit sales and surging prices happening at the same time.
Home consoles typically get cheaper over time after launch. However, the current-generation Xbox and PlayStation 5 (PS5), which debuted in 2020, have kept getting more expensive even six years after release. This price trend runs opposite to the usual pattern, and the scale of the increases is unusually large.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Switch2 is the last bastion
…nice spin
???
Are you hallucinating?
It was on top even during a properly measured period
The Nintendo "pigs" (5ch slang for Nintendo fanboys) are looking away from this and trying to downplay it with some "VGChartz conspiracy" nonsense
https://www.thegamebusiness.com/p/how-did-ps5-boxed-games-sell-in-september
Switch2 was #1 in US hardware sales for both August and year-to-date, in both units and revenue
Hardware — Nintendo Switch 2 ranked #1 in the US hardware market in both unit sales and revenue, for both August and year-to-date (YTD) 2026. PlayStation 5 ranked #2 on every metric and period.
https://bsky.app/profile/matpiscatella.bsky.social/post/3mxejcak6lk2n
Well, now I know for sure you can't even tell the difference between the UK and the US
Guess it's not really the time to be saying that anymore
Console prices and game development costs are two completely different things
Sure, sales dipped after the price hike, but it's nowhere near a record slump
And yet the "short-bus crowd" (ableist 5ch slur for a rival fanbase) kept insisting for years that higher specs mean lower dev costs, huh
Even looking at unit sales, they're getting crushed by indies
Same goes for profit margins
Companies should do what Capcom does and consistently put out AA titles
But Sony just can't get off the AAA train lol
Gaming media definitely wants to avoid a downturn too.
The overall game market is actually trending upward
The media's just steering in a different direction
It's about 5 weeks from release and GTA6 barely has any promotion going
Well, it's not so much that they're not doing it — they probably can't, because of the riots in France
Worst case it could even get banned outright?
Since everyone keeps blaming GTA for the influence
Just this year alone:
– Sony canceled the AFEELA electric vehicle
– Sony handed control of BRAVIA over to the Chinese company TCL
– Sony sold off its stake in EVO
– Sony sold patents to its major rival, META
At this point, it looks like Sony itself is the one dismantling Sony. 😂
https://x.com/kaiser_drago/status/2108201366468395501?s=46
As for the EV thing, it was actually Honda that wanted to cancel it, not Sony
They pivoted hard into EVs and are bleeding money, so they're in no position to be partnering with Sony anymore
As far as we know, Japan is the only country where Xbox is outselling its previous generation
But the slump in the US and Europe is so massive there's no way that makes up for it
The impact of the price hike only lasted like 3 days though
At least based on what I'm seeing on US Amazon
In the UK, which raised prices in September, hardware sales actually went up in September compared to August, so the same could happen in the US
Coming in at #2 was the Nintendo Switch 2, up 70% from August and up 17% year-over-year from last September. Year-to-date, it's up 13% overall. Xbox came in at #3 — up 30% from August, but down 29% year-over-year from last September. Its overall year-to-date sales are up 1.7%.
https://www.thegamebusiness.com/p/how-did-ps5-boxed-games-sell-in-september
For PCs, gaming is just a bonus feature anyway
Is that really so strange?
Smartphones and PCs are going to stop selling too at this rate
I'm pretty sure PC sales have been dropping hard too
This isn't about Japan — it's about crap-box's (derisive 5ch nickname for Xbox) home turf, the US
Of course that's gonna make headlines
Lol, it's really that bad?
13 years ago means right around when PS3 was transitioning to PS4
And if you've got that special niche craving to play Nintendo games, that's what Switch is for
So seriously, what's the point of crap-Station or crap-box (derisive 5ch nicknames for PlayStation/Xbox) even existing anymore?
It's a position I genuinely can't wrap my head around
Then you can't play Wolverine!
PlayStation hardware unit sales fell 11% year-over-year in August (the lowest level for an August since 2013), while Xbox hardware unit sales fell 31% (the lowest level for an August since 2020).
https://bsky.app/profile/matpiscatella.bsky.social/post/3mxejcak6lk2n
13 years ago puts it right around the PS3 era… so the worst sales since then, huh
Lowest since 2013, so genuinely the worst sales ever, huh
Lmao, PlayStation's done for ("owa-sute" — 5ch slang for "PlayStation is finished")
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
These figures are based on tallies from the US research firm Circana. Behind the continued rise in console prices are tariff-driven increases in parts costs, along with shortages and price spikes in semiconductors and other components driven by surging AI demand. Consoles typically get cheaper the longer they’ve been on the market, but the Xbox and PS5, both launched in 2020, are actually getting more expensive even in their sixth year — an unusual trend compared to past generations. In the thread, data from a UK research firm and US data got mixed together in citations, sparking arguments over whose numbers were actually being discussed. Even the claim that Switch2 is the sales leader needs a caveat, since the result can change depending on the country and time period in question — it’s not simply a case of “only Switch2 is doing well.”
*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Hardware/Industry [“Geha”]) thread “Media: ‘Something’s off in the home console market — Xbox and PlayStation hit record sales slumps’“.
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