The US console hardware market is in its most precarious position “since the 1980s,” says Circana

The U.S. console hardware market hasn’t been in a more precarious position “since the early 1980s,” according to market research firm Circana.

Senior Director Mat Piscatella shared this warning alongside the company’s latest retail tracking figures, which suggest that year-to-date through August, Xbox (11,820 items)” href=”https://www.videogameschronicle.com/platforms/xbox/”>Xbox hardware unit sales were down 33% from a year ago in the US, while PlayStation (12,721 articles)” href=”https://www.videogameschronicle.com/platforms/playstation/”>PlayStation hardware units are down 25%.

The Xbox figure is an all-time low for the platform, while PlayStation is at its lowest level since 2013, according to Circana. This drop reflects a significant increase in console prices in the United States, mainly due to component shortages caused by AI data centers.

According to Circana, the average price a consumer paid for a new Xbox console in the 2026 year ending in August is $529, 26% more than a year ago, while the average PlayStation console sold for $597, 20% more than last year.

“Both prices are at all-time highs in the United States. Price sensitivity is becoming a real problem,” Piscatella commented. “Perhaps the release of the Big Video Game in November will help mitigate 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, a major retailer warned that the release of Grand Theft Auto 6 (194 articles)” href=”https://www.videogameschronicle.com/games/grand-theft-auto-6/”>Grand Theft Auto 6 could lead to a shortage of consoles this Christmas.

A senior games buyer for an unnamed retailer told The Game Business that the combination of component shortages and price increases meant consoles were on shorter supply than usual, and that the release of GTA 6 would “probably” lead to a situation where console stock would sell out.

Matthew Ball, Xbox’s chief strategy officer, previously said that the supply of Xbox consoles was already a problem.

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