5.9 million units in 12 months. Only the Game Boy Advance (6.5 million) sold faster in its first year in US tracked history. But the Switch 2's milestone, confirmed by Circana's May 2026 report, is the one bright spot in a hardware market that is quietly breaking.
PlayStation 5 unit sales crashed 58% year-over-year in May, falling to their lowest total for the month since 2000. Xbox hardware sales hit their lowest May on record, down 12% in units despite spending actually growing 7%. The culprit is the same across both platforms: price hikes driven by a component shortage that shows no signs of easing.
The average price paid for a new console in the US hit $502 in May 2026, up from $440 a year ago. PS5 pricing rose 33% to $672. Xbox Series X/S climbed 22% to $524. Sony raised PlayStation prices in March.
Microsoft announced another increase yesterday, effective August 1, bumping the Xbox Series X and S by $100 to $150 depending on model. Nintendo itself will lift the Switch 2 to $499.99 on September 1.
The root cause is insatiable AI datacenter demand for memory and components. Microsoft told investors it expects "another doubling" in component pricing by autumn 2027, which means more console price increases are all but certain.
Switch 2 has so far avoided the worst of it. Mat Piscatella, Senior Director of Video Games at Circana, said the console drove overall hardware spending up 38% to $249 million in May, offsetting a 43% drop in PS5 spending. The Switch 2 was the best-selling platform in both units and dollars for May and 2026 year-to-date, with PS5 in second place across both measures.
But Nintendo itself has warned that Switch 2 sales will slow in year two. The company said sales "were more concentrated in the launch year in comparison to previous hardware systems." Add a $50 price increase on September 1, and that trajectory seems locked in.
The bigger picture is uncomfortable. Three console makers are raising prices in a single generation, something that has never happened before.
Valve's Steam Machine arrived at a base price of $1,000, which even Valve admitted was "significantly" higher than intended. The question looming over the industry is whether Grand Theft Auto 6, arriving November 19, has enough pull to reverse the trend.
One retailer has already warned there may not be enough console stock to meet GTA 6 demand this holiday season.
