With PS5 and Xbox Series X|S entering the middle age of their hardware lifecycle, Circana (formerly known as NPD) has provided comparison numbers for how they’re doing against their predecessors. Long story short: PS5 is outperforming the PS4, while Xbox Series X|S is falling behind the Xbox One in the US.
Circana revealed that PS5 hardware sales are 8% ahead of PS4 after 43 months of availability. Meanwhile, Xbox Series X|S “trails Xbox One by 13% and remain[s] slightly behind Xbox 360.”
This probably doesn’t come as a big surprise, since previous reports pointed to PS5 outselling Xbox Series X|S handily. In addition, Xbox hardware had its worst sales dropoff in years according to a recent earnings report.
Microsoft has pushed publicly that hardware sales are not the end all, be all for its business. For one, Xbox first-party games also arrive on PC, and now some are showing up on PS5 and Nintendo Switch. On top of that, there are ways to play Xbox Game Pass titles without a console, including the recent addition of Amazon Fire TV devices.
The hardware comparisons weren’t the only updates from Circana. The group also announced the top 20 best-selling games in May for the US, with Ghost of Tsushima topping the list after arriving on Steam. As for 2024’s best-selling games to date, Helldivers II remains at No. 1.
