Taken from an interview on gamesindustry.biz:

We were supportive of both of those platforms (3DS/Vita), but then you've got finite resources and you've got teams that say, 'We really think that two or three years from now, these are the platforms that people are going to be consuming games on.' And you look at the quality of what you can do on phones and tablets... Sometimes strategy is not about what you do but what you don't do, and you have to make some hard calls when you've got only so many people. To my point, we've got to be planning for FY 17 and 18. Do you think the Vita and 3DS are going to be around in some shape or fashion by then on a scale level?

Not unsurprising in the slightest, but coming from Peter Moore, it does raise an interesting point in where certainly EA at least see the 3DS and Vita in just a year or two.

Could it lead to where Nintendo's next handheld might be hitting the market (I think it's safe to say Vita is Sony's final attempt at a dedicated handheld system)? Are they just cutting their losses on dedicated handhelds? Western support in general has been abysmal even for the 3DS despite it's userbase. Vita has fared a bit better, but from much less influential developers (Big Ben Interactive, Milestone etc.). It seems none of the major companies are prepared to put any investment into a portable title anymore beyond the usual licensed shovelware aimed at the younger end of the market.

Personally I think we're seeing the tipping point where Mobile Gaming is going to start to replace dedicated handhelds, as much as I hate that because I just can't get on with mobile gaming at all. A touch screen for gaming just isn't right.

Thoughts?

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2014-06-30-ea-hopes-to-benefit-from-great-fight-among-consoles-moore

via http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2014/07/ea_explains_why_its_abandoning_dedicated_handhelds_for_smartphones_and_tablets

Have EA ever really supported handhelds in meaningful way?

Previously. But this generation they've done like four games for either platform. Two of which were FIFA reskins.

What 3DS/Vita games does EA even publish?

They used to put an awful lot of DS and PSP games out on the market including software specifically for the handhelds.

The 3DS and Vita both got 1 mainline Need for Speed Game, Madden, 3DS got The Sims, and they were both getting FIFA however their proper handheld support seemed to dry up in 2012.

It seems they've now even decided FIFA reskins aren't worth the effort on them. The difference in handheld output from the introduction of the iPhone to 2013 is pretty staggering though.

I think there will always be a market for dedicated handhelds just as there is a market for itouch/ipods/etc even though you can get phones for the same price that do more. I think a lot of people buy Nintendo handhelds for their software that you can only get on the Nintendo platform so yea, I think they will be here to stay for a very long time. Its just the matter of how big will the installbase will be

There will always be a dedicated market for handhelds. Honestly, I don't see mobile gaming becoming too much bigger than it already is. It's already a huge thing, and the 3DS is still doing great for itself. It really can't get much worse.

FIFA

They were more of a home console company and now with the mobile market, there's even less reasons to support handhelds.
The increasing need for more manpower for this gen games, does make sense to put your efforts where the reward is greater.

It's a matter of choice, not a matter of hinting at new consoles, i think.

It is. But since their handheld output was pretty much limited to shovelware and ports (mostly lazy ones), it's not that much of a loss. While those things are a good indicator of the health of a platform, I don't think their absence exactly undermines the handheld proposition. It just doesn't make a whole lot of sense for EA to include dedicated handhelds in their plans given their portfolio of games.

It will be interesting to see how things shake out in the coming years. Right now handheld games occupy an uncomfortable middle ground. But what happens as the mobile software market gets more and more crowded? Especially if, as Square is trying to do with Mevius Final Fantasy, mobile games increasingly resemble console games and become ever more expensive to develop? What's the appeal for publishers if they have to offer more and more polished games to ridiculously price sensitive consumers? Do traditional handhelds where people are used to paying ~$40 for a game become a safer bet?