Let's not discuss or buy into recent company rhetorics regarding current generation console lifespans. Let's instead take a look at the future expanding markets and ponder our way through all the possibilities.
If a company (any company) releases a new system in say 2 years, 4 years or 6 years.. That event will de facto launch the 8th Gen. It does not matter if Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft want the 7th generation to last 'forever'. The fact is that if a company launches a new 'Core' Gaming Platform several years after the competition, they will capture the market (if rival companies doesn't follow suit, that is).
Having established such a scenario we now need to take a look at potential contenders. Some of the companies listed below have the expertice and ability to single handedly or through cooperation with other companies, effectively launch the 8th generation of videogaming.
Console Manufacturers
List of Electronics Companies:
China:
Aigo
Haier
TCL
India:
Bharat Electronics Limited
Videocon
Voltas
BPL
HCL
Finland (added to the list):
Nokia
Germany:
Grundig
Siemens
Japan:
Alpine
Brother Industries
Canon
Casio
Clarion
Corega
Denon
Eizo (Nanao)
Epson
Fujifilm
Fuji Xerox
Fujitsu
Funai
Hitachi
iiyama
IO Data
JVC (Victor)
Konica Minolta
Kyocera
Marantz
Melco (Buffalo)
Mitsubishi Electric
Mouse Computer
NEC
Nikon
Oki
Olympus
Panasonic
Pentax
Pioneer
Planex
Renesas
Ricoh
Sanyo
Seiko
Sharp
SII
Sony
TDK
Toshiba
South Korea:
Daewoo Electronics
LG
Samsung
Netherlands:
Philips
Scotland:
Tirna Electronics
Finlay Irvine
Taiwan:
Acer
AOpen
Asus
BenQ
ECS
ELSA
EPoX
Gigabyte
MSI
Soyo
TSMC
VIA Technologies
SURYA
United Kingdom:
Tirna Electronics
Northern Hi-Tec
United States:
AMD
Apple Computer
Avaya
Averatec
Cisco Systems
Dell
eMachines
Emerson Radio
Emerson Electric
Gateway
Hewlett-Packard
IBM
Intel
Magnavox
NVIDIA
Packard Bell
RCA
SGI
Sun Microsystems
Texas Instruments
Unisys
Zenith
In Example.. How about a Nokia-Sega-Apple handheld system?