Bloomberg:

• U.S. consumer spending on video game consoles fell sharply in November, with total hardware revenue around $695 million, down about 27 % from November 2024 — the worst November for console sales in roughly 20 years.

• This November performance was the lowest dollar total since 2005 and the lowest unit sales since 1995, indicating a very weak holiday kickoff month.

• All three major console makers — Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo — saw year-over-year declines in U.S. hardware sales in November.

• The PlayStation 5 ended up as the top-selling console in both units and dollars for November, ahead of the newer Nintendo Switch 2 and others, despite overall weak demand.

• Analysts noted that higher console prices (average around a record $439 per unit) and broader economic pressures likely discouraged purchases.

Full article (paywall)

Edit, similar article but not behind paywall: https://www.gamefile.news/p/november-2025-console-sales-drop-black-ops-7

This is especially crazy because Switch 2 is a new and fast-selling platform.
In 1995, PlayStation was the new kid just released outside of Japan. There wasn't much hype for it, not relative to the fact that it would sell over 100 million units globally. SNES and Genesis/Mega Drive were old, and Game Boy hadn't gotten its second wind yet with Pokémon.
2005 surprises me. DS was picking up steam, PS2 was still selling. Xbox 360 just launched, and you have a new platform like PSP which launched earlier in the year.
In addition to circumstances in the USA, maybe Switch 2's record-setting launch occurring in June and not a holiday launch affects this.

It's too early to be certain but you have to remember that the bulk of sales this early in a console's life are usually made up of super core gamers. The casual sales, or mainstream sales, those don't kick in until later. Perhaps the Switch 2 isn't the mainstream darling we thought it was going to be? It's possible. Especially considering how rare it is for a platform to dominate two gens in a row. I think only the PS2 managed to do that. Every other platform either came back down to earth or lost.

Or, maybe it's just the price of the thing.

We'll have to wait and see.

Fair. And even though it's tracking well past Switch globally, there's not much of a chance it can sustain that in the long-run. 

Will it outsell PS4 and Game Boy/Game Boy Color? Probably. Will it outsell DS? I don't think so. 

To be clear in 2005 they sold nearly twice as much hardware as 2025 that was just a dollar number. Maybe you already know but others might not.