GBA - 81.5m     Software - 377m

PSP - 80.8m     Software - 303m

3DS - 61.6m(Sep'16)  Software - 293m (Sep'16)

PSV - 14.6m     Software - 53.6m

So far this gen: 76.2m     Software 346m

3DS (Europe/Japan) has already outsold GBA (Europe/Japan). It's ~20m behind in the US but the PSP was too and 3DS still has some life left yet.

Given the onslaught of smartphone and tablet gaming surely the decline should have set in and handheld software should be much lower than in the GBA days.

Handheld gaming won't die. People who say that and say it's going to disappear soon are being hyperbolic

Well Nintendo is so desperate and is combining their handheld with a home console to increase sales while Sony has dropped out completely. Sounds like a decline to me.

Will you accept the decline of handhelds if the Switch sells less hardware than the 3DS?

I wouldn't even call DS a fluke. Nintendo handhelds have a combined 413 million sold. That is more than all PS home consoles combined. 4 systems vs 4 systems. There is less demand for a dedicated handheld yes but there is still a big demand for it.

Handheld gaming currently only exists with a single company. Handheld gaming will die as soon as that company decides it wants to jump on smartphones instead.

I think the 'desperation' is because of the home console not the handheld, no?

Switch isn't going to sell less than 3DS but if it does sure, assuming Sony doesn't release a 80m selling handheld.

I don't think anyone on this planet can release an 80m selling handheld anymore unless it's a smartphone and you're Samsung or Apple.

And yes I'm still skeptical whether the Switch will reach the magic 50m mark. The 3DS wouldn't even have gotten so far without the midgen refresh called the New 3DS.

Agreed but if they'd have dropped the 3D and had a lower price from the start, do you think they'd have sold more or less?

You say it only exists within a single company but there is 30k vita sales on the front page which disagree with you, sure Sony are unlikely to make another handheld in the next couple of years but if the Switch proves to be popular with giving gamers a real console experience on the go then I would be shocked if no other company produced a similar product in the next few years.

I think that still counts as handheld device though. If Nintendo didn't have to worry about portability they could make a stronger/new gimmick home system.

I think it will sell better than 3DS+WiiU anyway. Ignoring Wii, haven't Nintendo's home systems been dropping by 30-50% anyway? That would put their next home system at 7-10m.