US console hardware market at its most precarious position ‘since the 80s’, says Circana

The US console hardware market has not been in a more precarious position “since the early 80s”, according to market research firm Circana.

Senior director Mat Piscatella shared the warning alongside the firm’s latest retail tracking figures, which suggest that year-to-date through August, Xbox hardware unit sales are down 33% versus a year ago in the US, while PlayStation hardware units are down 25%.

The Xbox figure is an all-time low for the platform, while PlayStation is at its lowest point since 2013, according to Circana. The decline reflects a significant increase in console prices in the US, driven mostly by component shortages caused by AI data centers.

According to Circana, 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 sold for $597, 20% higher than last year.

“Both prices are at all-time US highs. Price sensitivity is becoming a real problem,” commented Piscatella. “Perhaps the release of the Big Video Game in November will help ease at least some of these declines.”

Piscatella said GTA 6’s potential impact on console sales in November will depend on product availability, given the RAM and component crisis.

Earlier this year, one major retailer warned that the release of Grand Theft Auto 6 may lead to a Christmas console shortage.

A senior games buyer for an unnamed retailer told The Game Business that the combination of component shortages and price increases means consoles have been in shorter supply than usual, and the release of GTA 6 will “likely” lead to a situation where console stock sells out.

Xbox chief strategy officer Matthew Ball previously said that the supply of Xbox consoles was already an issue.

“I can tell you definitively demand for our console exceeds the supply,” he said in June. “We are putting them in as many stores as possible. We are producing them as quickly as possible. There is a severe limitation to how quickly we can do that, but it’s not a question of appetite.”