Sales of current-generation consoles are rapidly declining. In January 2020, the US consumers spent 35 percent less on hardware than in the same period last year.
Total spending on games including hardware, software, accessories and game cards was down 26 percent. This was shared by NPD’s Mat Piscatella.
US NPD HW – Hardware spending in January 2020 declined 35 percent when compared to a year ago, to $129 million. All in-market platforms declined when compared to a year ago.
— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) February 14, 2020
Piscatella’s fellow analyst Daniel Ahmad has provided some context for this.
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.
Several factors might have had a negative impact on sales. The prices for the PS4 and Xbox One have remained the same for a while now. The early announcement of the next-gen systems could have contributed as well along with HD gaming now being available on other platforms. Lastly, sales might be down at the moment because highly anticipated titles releases like Cyberpunk 2077 and The Last of Us 2 have been delayed.