Xbox Series S: Microsoft's budget console outsells the Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5 and the Nintendo Switch during Black Friday promotions

While the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X remain sold out, even the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition, plenty of Xbox Series S consoles are available. As it stands, Best Buy has stock of the Series S for US$299.99, with the console selling for £249.99 on Amazon UK.

During Black Friday and Cyber Monday, retailers were selling the Series S at a modest discount, if they offered one at all. Nonetheless, Adobe Digital Economy Index has found that the Series S has sold exceptionally well over the consecutive promotional periods. Reportedly, the Series S outsold the Nintendo Switch too, not just the largely unavailable PlayStation 5 and Series X.

Until now, the lack of cutting-edge hardware in the Series S has depressed its adoption. Presumably, people have been purchasing the Series S as Christmas presents, given the sudden rise in sales.

For reference, the Series S offers up to 4 TFLOPS of performance, a third of the Series X. The Series S is also only available with 512 GB of storage, compared to the 1 TB in the Series X. Crucially, the Series S lacks a disc drive, meaning that you must rely on a digital-only game library.

Purchase the Xbox Core Wireless Controller (Robot White) on Amazon