Xbox Series X/S Sales Lag Behind Xbox One, While PS5 Continues to Outpace PS4
Four years into its lifecycle, the Xbox Series X/S is struggling to keep pace with its predecessor, the Xbox One, in the U.S. market. Meanwhile, Sony’s PlayStation 5 is outperforming the PlayStation 4 over the same time frame.
These insights come from the latest sales data compiled by Circana (formerly The NPD Group), as shared by Circana’s executive director and gaming industry analyst Mat Piscatella in a recent Bluesky post, which provides an overview of U.S. video game hardware and software spending through December 2024.
Xbox Series X/S Falling Behind, PS5 Surging Ahead
Piscatella highlighted key trends from the report, noting:
• PS5 lifetime unit sales are now 7% ahead of where the PS4 was at the same stage.
• In contrast, Xbox Series X/S sales are 18% behind Xbox One’s trajectory over the same period.
For comparison, at the 38-month mark in December 2023, the PS5 had been 6% ahead of the PS4, while the Xbox Series X/S lagged behind Xbox One by 13%. The gap has only widened further for Microsoft’s console.
A Difficult Year for Gaming Hardware Sales
Circana’s 2024 year-end report paints a challenging picture for the gaming hardware market, with overall consumer spending dropping by 29% compared to the previous year. Breaking down the numbers:
• PS5 hardware sales declined by 18%, though it still maintained its position as the best-selling console in December.
• Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch sales dropped by 38%, a sharper decline.
• The downturn in Switch sales was expected due to its age in the market, while PS5 and Xbox Series X/S have passed their peak sales years.
Sony and Microsoft’s Diverging Strategies
While specific sales figures for Xbox were not provided, Sony previously confirmed that 61 million PS5 units had been sold worldwide as of 2023, despite year-over-year declines.
Microsoft, in contrast, does not disclose Xbox sales numbers but has acknowledged a decline in hardware sales as it pivots towards a platform-agnostic strategy, focusing more on Game Pass, cloud gaming, and software services rather than traditional console sales.
Source: https://www.eurogamer.net/xbox-series-xs-sales-trailing-behind-xbox-one-in-us-while-ps5-outpaces-ps4
Four years into its lifecycle, the Xbox Series X/S is struggling to keep pace with its predecessor, the Xbox One, in the U.S. market. Meanwhile, Sony’s PlayStation 5 is outperforming the PlayStation 4 over the same time frame.
These insights come from the latest sales data compiled by Circana (formerly The NPD Group), as shared by Circana’s executive director and gaming industry analyst Mat Piscatella in a recent Bluesky post, which provides an overview of U.S. video game hardware and software spending through December 2024.
Xbox Series X/S Falling Behind, PS5 Surging Ahead
Piscatella highlighted key trends from the report, noting:
• PS5 lifetime unit sales are now 7% ahead of where the PS4 was at the same stage.
• In contrast, Xbox Series X/S sales are 18% behind Xbox One’s trajectory over the same period.
For comparison, at the 38-month mark in December 2023, the PS5 had been 6% ahead of the PS4, while the Xbox Series X/S lagged behind Xbox One by 13%. The gap has only widened further for Microsoft’s console.
A Difficult Year for Gaming Hardware Sales
Circana’s 2024 year-end report paints a challenging picture for the gaming hardware market, with overall consumer spending dropping by 29% compared to the previous year. Breaking down the numbers:
• PS5 hardware sales declined by 18%, though it still maintained its position as the best-selling console in December.
• Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch sales dropped by 38%, a sharper decline.
• The downturn in Switch sales was expected due to its age in the market, while PS5 and Xbox Series X/S have passed their peak sales years.
Sony and Microsoft’s Diverging Strategies
While specific sales figures for Xbox were not provided, Sony previously confirmed that 61 million PS5 units had been sold worldwide as of 2023, despite year-over-year declines.
Microsoft, in contrast, does not disclose Xbox sales numbers but has acknowledged a decline in hardware sales as it pivots towards a platform-agnostic strategy, focusing more on Game Pass, cloud gaming, and software services rather than traditional console sales.
Source: https://www.eurogamer.net/xbox-series-xs-sales-trailing-behind-xbox-one-in-us-while-ps5-outpaces-ps4
