2025 will be a difficult year for Xbox and Microsoft on many fronts. The biggest setback, however, comes in the hardware area. Xbox console sales have plummeted 29% this year, the company's largest decline in recent years.
In addition, the price of Xbox Series X|S increased twice in 2025, alienating a large portion of fans. Taking all of these factors into consideration, it's easy to understand why the Switch, released in 2017, outsold the Xbox Series X|S this year.
As shown above, Xbox Series X|S will only sell 1.8 million units worldwide in 2025. In comparison, the Switch handheld console has been on the market for nearly ten years. The successor handheld console Switch 2 was also released in June this year. However, Switch shipments this year have reached 3.4 million units.
Xbox Series console sales have been hit hard, with data showing that November sales dropped 70% compared with the same period last year. There's no doubt that PS5 sales are also down, down 40% compared to November last year.
However, Sony's global sales of this console still exceeded 9 million units, adding icing on the cake to its already impressive sales. In addition, thanks to the release of Switch 2, Nintendo was relatively less affected, with its sales only falling 10% year-on-year.
Microsoft has set its sights on next-generation consoles, with Phil Spencer hinting that the upcoming Xbox will fully integrate PC functionality. However, Xbox is at the bottom of the console sales rankings, and with Valve launching its own home console next year, competition will only intensify even in the hybrid console/PC market.
