By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Handheld market still alive, 3DS sales are amazing.

cusman on 19 December 2012
Pineapple said:

It's going to be the weakest handheld year since the 2005.

2005: 20.6 million (DS 10.6 million, PsP 9 million). Likely to be a bit higher due to the GBA still selling a bit.

2006: 30 million (DS 20.5 million, PsP 9.5 million)

2007: 42 million (DS 29.5 million, PsP 12.8 million)

2008: 44 million (DS 29.5 million, PsP 13 million)

2009: 37 million (DS 27 million, PsP 9 million)

2010: 30 million (DS 21 million, PsP 9 million)

2011: 30 million (3DS 13.25 million, DS 9 million, PsP 7 million, Vita 0.5 million)

2012: 20 million (3DS 11 million, DS 3 million, PsP 3 million, Vita 3 million). Plus whatever they sell the next few weeks.

 

In other words, the handheld market is the weakest it has been since the DS launched. Considering 2005 lacks GBA sales, it's likely 2005 was actually higher than 2012.

 

However, the reason for the drop isn't necessarily smartphones. The total revenue for smartphone games is at just 2 billion dollars a year, while the handheld market is still well above 10 billion.

It's less that the smartphones have stolen the market, and more that the 3DS simply doesn't have the appeal of the DS, and the Vita is nowhere near the appeal of the PsP.

The decrease is due to internal problems, rather than external. Which means there's still plenty of time to turn it around.

I think the problem is simply economy or shift in median age of people or something along those lines leading to less money available to spend on dedicated portable gaming. Could also simply be that people are still content to be playing their DS with the strong software support. Could also be that home console gaming is just so vastly better now that...

Could be time/money eaten up by the SmartPhone adoptions but I think that is least likely here... I mean honestly who games on the SmartPhones as the norm? No... the buttons and controls are needed to have the best "feeling" games. Just touch and gyro alone are not enough for any of the deeper game designs.



Around the Network
JGarret on 19 December 2012
Soundwave said:
I get the feeling Nintendo in general will become more and more Japan centric, that seems to be where they are finding the core part of their success these days and that's the market that seems to agree most with their hardware philosophies (less emphasis on graphics, smaller, more power efficient, etc.).


The Wii/Wii U, being so small, seems to have been designed primarily with the Japanese market in mind...Sony is a Japanese company, like Nintendo, but the Playstation and the biggest exclusives are Western oriented...maybe it´s an effort by Nintendo to try and make sure the home console market in Japan doesn´t become completely irrelevant.



kitler53 on 19 December 2012
POE said:
kitler53 said:
POE said:
kitler53 said:
POE said:
kitler53 said:
POE said:
kitler53 said:
POE said:
kitler53 said:
POE said:
kitler53 said:
3DS is going to end its second year down YoY despite not being on the market a full year in 2011. the dedicated handheld market is still alive but it is far from amazing which is especially true when you look anywhere that isn't japan.

the days for dedicated handhelds are numbered.

No it´s not.

yes it will.

What do you want to bet?


sure, we use vgchartz numbers up the the week ending on december 29th so it corresponds with last year's numbers ending on the december 30th.

2 days is a lot, maybe we can take the 20% of the first week of January?


we compare like for like.  52 weeks with 52 weeks.  i'm not comparing 365 days to 367 days.

Hmm, ok. What do we bet then? Our signs for one month?

if by signs you mean avatars... sure.

Where you put those blond sisters and hermione... there if i win you should post, "POE beat me in a bet, he´s like Nostradamus and i´m trash"

i was talking about where i have carley rae jepson.  can i add that text (replacing my next gen prediction and R&C quote) but still keep all my beautiful women?  i'm not sure i can go a month without marykate, ashley, and emma.  i could go a month without carley.

haha, ok, those ladies can stay. Deal then?

deal



Soundwave on 19 December 2012
cusman said:
Pineapple said:

It's going to be the weakest handheld year since the 2005.

2005: 20.6 million (DS 10.6 million, PsP 9 million). Likely to be a bit higher due to the GBA still selling a bit.

2006: 30 million (DS 20.5 million, PsP 9.5 million)

2007: 42 million (DS 29.5 million, PsP 12.8 million)

2008: 44 million (DS 29.5 million, PsP 13 million)

2009: 37 million (DS 27 million, PsP 9 million)

2010: 30 million (DS 21 million, PsP 9 million)

2011: 30 million (3DS 13.25 million, DS 9 million, PsP 7 million, Vita 0.5 million)

2012: 20 million (3DS 11 million, DS 3 million, PsP 3 million, Vita 3 million). Plus whatever they sell the next few weeks.

 

In other words, the handheld market is the weakest it has been since the DS launched. Considering 2005 lacks GBA sales, it's likely 2005 was actually higher than 2012.

 

However, the reason for the drop isn't necessarily smartphones. The total revenue for smartphone games is at just 2 billion dollars a year, while the handheld market is still well above 10 billion.

It's less that the smartphones have stolen the market, and more that the 3DS simply doesn't have the appeal of the DS, and the Vita is nowhere near the appeal of the PsP.

The decrease is due to internal problems, rather than external. Which means there's still plenty of time to turn it around.

I think the problem is simply economy or shift in median age of people or something along those lines leading to less money available to spend on dedicated portable gaming. Could also simply be that people are still content to be playing their DS with the strong software support. Could also be that home console gaming is just so vastly better now that...

Could be time/money eaten up by the SmartPhone adoptions but I think that is least likely here... I mean honestly who games on the SmartPhones as the norm? No... the buttons and controls are needed to have the best "feeling" games. Just touch and gyro alone are not enough for any of the deeper game designs.


I think what's hard for some people to understand is most people really don't care about having a full blown console style experience in a handheld game. 

It's like going into a McDonalds and complaining there isn't a steak dinner on the menu. That's not what people want when they go to a fast food joint. 

On the road, most people are quite happy with smartphones eating up all their free time, not just with simple games, but you can browse the internet, Twitter, Instagram, text message, watch some TV episodes, and maybe play a little Angry Birds or Cut the Rope. 

If they want to play a "serious" game for a lot of people ... that's what their home console is for. Most people aren't so addicted to gaming that they can't go a few hours away from their home console to get their gaming fix, lol. 

The difference was in the past, you really didn't have these options. If you wanted any entertainment on the go, basically your choice was playing games on a Game Boy/PSP/DS or carrying around a music-focused iPod (or before that, gasp, a Discman or Walkman). Your cell phone maybe played a crappy version of Tetris at best or Snake. 

Different times. You may care about having a proper d-pad/analog/buttons to play games away from the house. Most people don't. Most people don't have like 30+ minutes of free time to sit uniterrupted playing a video game when they leave the house anyway. 



Solid-Stark on 19 December 2012

Sure it's still alive, but there won't be room for dedicated handhelds in the near future. (Perhaps next gen)

3DS is set to sell less than DS (Half?) and the Vita is set to sell considerably a lot less than the PSP (Sony's last handheld console).

Smartphone and Tablet App games and gaming will take over.



e=mc^2

Gaming on: PS4 Pro, Switch, SNES Mini, Wii U, PC (i5-7400, GTX 1060)

Around the Network
tbone51 on 19 December 2012

3DS wont be down YoY! It'll barely be over!
3DS in Japan alone sold over 310k this week (dec 16). There will be probably over 500k in NoA and Europe so thats 810k at least!
Even though 3DS did so much better holiday last year this year will surpass it overall WW sales



kitler53 on 19 December 2012
Viper1 said:
kitler53 said:
POE said:
kitler53 said:
3DS is going to end its second year down YoY despite not being on the market a full year in 2011. the dedicated handheld market is still alive but it is far from amazing which is especially true when you look anywhere that isn't japan.

the days for dedicated handhelds are numbered.

No it´s not.

yes it will.

Looks like it only needs to average 700k each week over the next 3.   It just did 682k and the next 2 weeks will be bigger.  It shouldn't have a problem averaging 800k+ over that period.


that last week of the year will see a signifant drop (post holidays in the western world).   in that last week of the year 3DS did  about 550k last if i remember right.  if 3DS continues on it's current level of being down YoY on the week for the last 3 weeks my forcast has it miss the mark by about 100k units.  that's right, i ran the numbers.  it'll be close either way but 3DS has to be above 861k both this and next week to average out correctly for the typical drop on that last week of the year.



cunger on 19 December 2012
kitler53 said:
3DS is going to end its second year down YoY despite not being on the market a full year in 2011. the dedicated handheld market is still alive but it is far from amazing which is especially true when you look anywhere that isn't japan.

the days for dedicated handhelds are numbered.


Their days may be number but the number is still something like 20 years from now or more. It won't be replaced by smartphones and tablets. But the time Nintendo can put out a handheld that moves units tablets and smartphones will be ancient.



tbone51 on 19 December 2012


that last week of the year will see a signifant drop (post holidays in the western world).   in that last week of the year 3DS did  about 550k last if i remember right.  if 3DS continues on it's current level of being down YoY on the week for the last 3 weeks my forcast has it miss the mark by about 100k units.  that's right, i ran the numbers.  it'll be close either way but 3DS has to be above 861k both this and next week to average out correctly for the typical drop on that last week of the year.

↓Tbone↓
True for last week of sales but the difference last year is the week started christmas (or day after).
This year that week starts on dec23 which means last minute shoppers biggest two days lol! So i think it'll make it YoY!



sensebringer on 19 December 2012

There will be a handheld market, but only if they are not 250 dollars for the hardware and 40 dollars for the games. Next portable systems should be 150 - 170 dollars for the system and 15 - 25 dollars for the games.