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Circana Says Hardware Market in the US is in Most ‘Precarious Position Since the Early 80s’ – News
Senior Director and Video Game Industry Advisor at Circana Mat Piscatella on social media says the price of consoles in the US has never been higher and the hardware market hasn’t been this “precarious” since the early 1980s.
“For 2026 YTD ending August, Xbox hardware unit sales are down 33% versus a year ago in the US, while PlayStation hardware units are 25% lower,” said Piscatella. “Xbox YTD US hardware unit sales are at an all-time low, while PlayStation is at lowest point since 2013.
“The average price a consumer has paid for a new Xbox console in 2026 YTD ending August is $529, 26% higher than a year ago, while the average PlayStation console has sold for $597, 20% higher than last year. Both prices are at all-time US highs. Price sensitivity is becoming a real problem.
“Perhaps the release of the Big Video Game (Grand Theft Auto VI) in November will help ease at least some of these declines. But this will also depend on product availability given the RAM and component crisis. And pricing, of course. The US hardware market has not been in a more precarious position since the early 80s.”
The price of consoles from all three console makers have increased multiple times due to the shortages in RAM and SSDs. More price increases in the future aren’t even out of the question as the price of RAM and SSDs continue to rise.
In the US, The Xbox Series S now costs $500 for the 512GB model and $600 for the 1TB model, while the Xbox Series X is priced at $750 for the Digital model and $800 for the model with a disc drive.
The price of a PlayStation 5 in the US now starts at $600 for the Digital Edition, while the model with a disc drive costs $650. The PS5 Pro is now priced at $900.
Even Nintendo has increased the price of the Nintendo Switch 2 with it costing $500.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D’Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can follow the author on Bluesky.
