US Xbox and PS5 Sales Plunge to Historic Lows as AI Data Centers Squeeze Global RAM Supply

US Xbox hardware sales fell 33% year-over-year through August 2026, marking an all-time low, while PlayStation 5 unit sales dropped 25% to their lowest point since 2013. The average price paid for a PlayStation console jumped 20% to $597, and the average Xbox price climbed 26% to $529, marking record-high hardware costs for US consumers. Analyst Mat Piscatella attributed the volume collapse directly to price sensitivity, warning the US console market hasn't been in a more precarious position since the early 1980s. The price hikes are heavily driven by a global memory component shortage, as suppliers divert RAM production to highly lucrative enterprise AI data centers. "When I joined as CEO in February, the price we paid for console storage components was over 2x as high as we paid last fall. These costs have since doubled again. And as we plan for the 2027 holiday season, we expect another significant increase, taking us over 5x the prices we paid only two years earlier." — Asha Sharma