Xbox One, PS4 Sales Declining Faster Than Expected in the U.S.

Following the publication of NPD Group’s January 2020 report, senior industry analyst Daniel Ahmad pointed out that the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One sales are declining faster than expected in the United States. Both current-gen consoles’ end-of-cycle sales are “considerably lower” compared to where the PS3 and Xbox 360 stood back in January 2013 ahead of their successors’ launches.

U.S. hardware spending in January 2020 totaled $129 million, a 35 percent year-on-year decline. Nintendo Switch was the only console that remained steady.

An interesting takeaway from the US NPD report is that PS4 and XB1 hardware sales in Jan 2020 are considerably lower than PS3 and 360 were in Jan 2013.

Next gen consoles are around the corner but both are declining sharper than expected.

Switch continues to remain steady. https://t.co/tBfiJVvJRd

— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) February 14, 2020

Putting aside the fact that current-gen consoles have already sold a considerably higher amount of units, Ahmed suggested a couple of other reasons for the sharper decline. “PS4 and Xbox One have both held at current price points for a number of years,” he said before adding that the PS5 and Xbox Series X were announced quite early and both Sony and Microsoft confirmed backwards compatibility. According to Ahmad, a shift to HD gaming across multiple devices and delays of key titles planned for 2020 also contributed to a faster decline in PS4 and Xbox One sales.

PS4-exclusive The Last of Us Part II and CD Projekt RED’s highly-anticipated Cyberpunk 2077 were both delayed to Q2 and Q3 2020, respectively. Both titles are expected to eventually land on next-gen platforms alongside blockbusters like Assassin’s Creed and Call of Duty.