- Yoshida was asked on Sony's plans for a gaming handheld (aka PlayStation Vita 2) during the Q&A portion of his just-finished EGX 2015 developer session and he said:

"That's a tough question," he replied when asked about a PlayStation Vita 2. "People have mobile phones and it's so easy to play games on smartphones," Yoshida said. "And many games on smartphones are free, or free to start.

"I myself am a huge fan of PlayStation Vita and we worked really hard on designing every aspect. Touch-based games are fun - there are many games with really good design. But having sticks and buttons make things totally different.

"So I hope, like many of you, that this culture of playing portable games continues but the climate is not healthy for now because of the huge dominance of mobile gaming."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-09-26-sony-climate-not-healthy-for-playstation-vita-successor

Shocking?

Not shocking at all. The fact that the Vita is the second strongest competitor to a Nintendo handheld ever says a lot...

I'm actually a little surprised. Thought these guys were somewhat insane and would try to launch one anyway.

not shocked at all

yeah everyone expected this

The problem is 3rd party don't want to support handheld

I thought this was obvious. Either they make a PS Mobile phone, or abandon all handheld markets completely.

No not shocking. Even though I've had many great experience on my Vita and love it to bits, I really don't think Sony should make a successor. Maybe in Japan only and even there is always a risk and should be thought through carefully.

the reason the vita was not a success like sony wanted, is because sony themselves killed the system with poor 1st support and overpriced memory cards and system. Also poor ads and deals to get ppl to buy the system, all the issues with the vita remain soley on the shoulders of sony, its just that simple.
I myself love the vita , I own the system with over 75 games, but using the excuse they keep using for the poor received vita is the mobile market is severly flawed at its core and they know that themselves.
the Nintendo 3ds has sold over 55 million systems and when its done will come close to 70 million I wager, yes its a big gap from the Nintendo ds but its still a very healthy market with the so called mobile market that sony is blaming the fate of the vita on.

They should make a decent PlayStation Mobile, the one before was a joke!