I agree. A Sony android tablet/phone with strong game support would be huge!

If conventional handheld game systems are going down, then why has Nintendo sold more 3DS' than they sold DS' by this point in its lifecycle, despite it being more expensive?

The failure of one product does not indicate a trend.

I fully agree.

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=140359

Nintendo is the exception to this due to its particular 1st party titles. The market that traditionally no longer wants Pokemon, Mario, etc will own a smartphone/tablet. Where as the market that will want those 1st party titles will not be able to own such a device. (of course this is in general terms not every instance)

Also the 3DS is not that much more expensive now as compared to the $129 original DS line.

The DS was horrible early on in its life cycle, because Nintendo had to abruptly kill the GBA mid-cycle to release it, which caused a lot of confusion. 

The 3DS is going to come nowhere close to DS' life time sales. The 3DS is doing great in only one market -- Japan, and that's because in Japan the gaming handheld has replaced the home console market basically. 

But that doesn't apply to anywhere else in the world. The guy who wants to play Call of Duty has a 50-inch screen and a PS3/XBox waiting for him at home to do that with, he's not going to spend $250 + $20-$80 for a memory card + $50 for a watered down CoD so he can carry a device the size of a brick around in his pocket all day. 

This is just stupid. Sony basically has created a device that primarily appeals to 12-14-year-old males (read: the Marcus demographic) who are going through their rebellious phase where they're "too cool" for a DS/Game Boy but not old enough to have a driver's license and go out party/hang out when they please. 

If Sony had any freaking vision left as an electronics pioneer they would look at today's cell phone and tablet experience and realize rather quickly that there's money to be made by engineering something that can discreetly do everything modern cell phones/tablets do but can also play a wide variety of "real games" sold at a reasonable price (the Xperia Play has no games, no marketing so that's a no-go to begin with). 

I've always imagined the Vita is just the 'footsteps' in making the gaming tablets / phones. I have no idea how hardware costs would go, but they could surely make a tablet / phone that has all that functionality, but also the hardware to play all Vita titles. Then you're getting both what you say is best, them going for phones / tablet, but with a huge software lineup already (relatively speaking). No idea if it'd cost far too much though.

Either way I think releasing the Vita seperate and merging it with phones later on is more sensible then trying to make some super all in one package from the off. I've no idea if this is Sony's strategy but to me it doesn't make sense not to release some sort of Vita phone - once manufacturing costs are down, software is better and it actually makes sense for them to do it. It could be an engineering nightmare to get its size right but I reckon it could be done.

We'll see, I really like my Vita but I don't really get whos going to want it when we're talking about mass market and all that. They're going after the 20-something guy who owns a PS3 or 360 but no ones really sure they want a handheld console. The PSP sold a large amount in the end though so I'm sure PSV will carve out some sort of market in the end, probably after a price cut.

Guess what, some people consider handhelds and the games released for them to be superior to those on home consoles. Just because you see handhelds as 2nd-rate gaming, doesn't mean everyone shares the same view. Vita "flopping" (it hasn't yet) is bad for the industry because it means that Sony has less money to spend on those PS3 games that you love so much, not to mention R&D for the PS4.

A Sony tablet would loose even more drastically against Apple

I disagree. It's problem is lack of games that people want to buy /for handhelds/ and they should ditch Call of Duty and Assassins Creed and endless JRPGs as the focus and instead copy the DS. Not the 3DS, the DS.

- 2D Mario clone (LBP is not a 2D Mario experience)
- Mario Kart clone (LBP Karting will be close)
- Pokemon clone (Essential)
- Nintendogs and Brain Training clones. I know Sony has some of these but they need to be AAA focused.

Such a console would sell like DS, because 3DS isn't providing all of the above right now.