Why do people say that a console fails if its in third place?

[shams]

Its just public perception - it doesn't actually mean anything.

Did the Gamecube "fail"? It made more money than the Xbox? Did the Xbox fail? How about the Dreamcast?

The term is just thrown around these days too often - although compared to 'expectations', sometimes a console can fail (expects to see 10m, and only sells 1m).