Console sales surged over Black Friday, with PS5 taking the lion’s share thanks to big discounts

• UK hardware sales data is in for the Black Friday period
• PS5 consoles surged, accounting for 62% of the market share
• Switch 2 was also successful, though Xbox consoles lagged behind

There was much appetite for games console sales over last month’s Black Friday sales event. And we now have some data from UK consumers to check out.

Hardware sales data from market research firm NielsenIQ (as reported by The Game Business) console sales in the UK were up 7% in units, and 14% in total revenue.

The PlayStation 5 family of consoles unsurprisingly drove the lion’s share of console sales over the Black Friday period, accounting for a staggering 62% share. This is in no small part due to the shockingly large discounts Sony applied to its consoles, with an average £340 sale price.

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On average, Sony shaved around 21% off PS5 Slim consoles with the disc drive included, and around 34% off the PS5 Slim Digital Edition. The PS5 Pro also dropped to a new low of £586 – over £100 cheaper than its retail price of £699.99.

Nintendo had a decent showing, too, with the Switch 2 console. It accounted for around 23% of hardware unit sales. Discounts on Nintendo’s system were nowhere near as aggressive as Sony’s, but shoppers still managed to save on consoles and bundles with an average £405 selling price.

Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles lagged behind the competition, accounting for around 10% of hardware sales over the Black Friday period. A lack of appetite for Microsoft’s consoles after such harsh price rises is likely the main offender, but there were savings to be had; shoppers spent £385 on Xbox consoles on average, showing that the cheaper Series S was likely more popular over the sales period.

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