Summary
Despite itscontroversial $700 price tag, the PS5 Pro got off to a pretty good start in November, selling over 78,000 units in Japan alone whilecausing a surge in disc drive sales.
It was even a bestseller on Amazon, thoughit didn’t sell out anywhere.
However, according to veteran analyst Mat Piscatella (viaGamesRadar), it’s struggling to maintain momentum.
“PS5 Pro has fallen behind PS4 Pro’s pace.” Piscatella posted onBluesky. “Digital SKUs accounted for 49% of PS5 HW units in Jan and 88% of [Xbox Series X] units.”
January Hardware Spending Was Reportedly Down To Pandemic Levels
There are a number of factors that may be impacting PS5 Pro sales, but Piscatella highlighted that spending on video game hardware in general had dropped in January to levels unseen since the COVID-19 pandemic five years ago.
“January video game hardware spending dropped 45% when compared to a year ago, to $205 million,” Piscatella explained. “This is the lowest January total for video game hardware spending since the $131 million reached in January 2020. Double-digit percentage declines compared to a year ago were seen across all major console platforms. PlayStation 5 hardware spending dipped by 38% year-on-year, with Xbox Series declining by 50% and Switch 53%.”
Double-digit percentage declines compared to a year ago were seen across all major console platforms.
Piscatella didn’t provide any specific sales figures, but it’s worth noting that the PS4 Pro sold exceptionally well. In just four years, it moved 14.3 million units. By August of last year, it made up 20 percent of all PS4 sales. So, the PS5 Pro lagging behind doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s underperforming.
