Overview
- Circana’s May 2026 report shows Xbox logged its worst May hardware unit sales on record while PlayStation 5 unit sales fell 58% year‑over‑year and PlayStation hardware spending dropped about 43%.
- Higher retail prices pushed the average price paid for a new console to $502 in May, with the PS5 averaging $672 (up 33%) and the Xbox Series averaging $524 (up 22%).
- Overall hardware spending rose roughly 38% to about $249 million in May, a gain that Circana attributes mainly to strong Nintendo Switch 2 performance.
- Nintendo’s Switch 2 reached 5.9 million U.S. units in its first year and was the top seller in units and dollars for May and year‑to‑date, while Microsoft has announced Xbox price increases effective August 1 and Sony’s hike took effect earlier in April.
- Manufacturers blame a components and memory price crisis driven in part by datacentre and AI demand, which industry statements say could keep costs higher through 2027 and risk further squeezing console unit sales and consumer budgets this holiday season.