Four years after its launch, US sales of the Xbox Series X/S trail those of its predecessor, Xbox One, at the same point in the consoles’ lives. However, PlayStation 5 sales now firmly surpass PlayStation 4.
That’s according to sales data from Marketing research and technology company Circana (formerly the NPD Group) in its latest monthly report. Circana CEO and gaming industry analyst Mat Piscatella summarized the company’s finding, which covers US gaming and hardware spending through December 2024, in a lengthy post on Bluesky (thanks VGC).
Commenting on some of the more notable reports, Piscatella wrote: “Through the first 50 months of each console in the US market (life to date ending in December 2024 for Xbox Series X/S and PS5) “, PS5’s lifetime unit sales are 7 percent ahead of PS4’s pace, while Xbox Series X/S trails Xbox One by 18 percent.” In comparison, Piscatella noted: “Over 38 months in the United States (through December 2023), PS5 led PS4 by 6 percent, while the Xbox Series X/S followed Xbox One by 13 percent.”
Circana’s 2024 year-end report charts what Piscatella called a “rough” 12 months for gaming hardware, with consumer spending falling 29 percent compared to last year. On a more granular level, PS5 hardware spending fell by 18 percent (although it was still the best-selling platform in December), while the Series X/S and Switch declined by 38 percent. However, this drop was “expected” according to Piscatella, given the Switch’s substantial time on the market, and PS5 and the X/S series are “past their sales peaks.”
While no specific hardware sales figures were revealed, Sony last year revealed, amid declining year-over-year sales, 61 million PS5s have been traded since its launch in November 2020. Microsoft does not share sales figures for Xbox Series X/S, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but. It also previously confirmed declining hardware sales as it increasingly pushes Xbox as a hardware-agnostic brand.
Piscatella’s full summary of Circana’s latest report on US gaming and hardware trends can be found on Bluesky and makes for interesting reading.
