2011:
3DS - 13,250,062
PSV - 481,573
PSP - 7,326,647
DS - 8,828,665
Total - 29,886,947
2012:
3DS - 14,479,593
PSV - 3,745,701
PSP - 3,051,766
DS - 3,675,159
Total - 24,952,219
100/29,866,947x24,952,219 = 83.5
Therefore, the handheld market declined by a whopping 16.5% this year!
Despite the Vitas success and the 3DS being up YOY, the handheld market has continued it's descent into oblivion this year. Indeed, despite the new generation of handhelds being released and receiving good dev support the market has continued to decline. The reason? Smartphones and tablets. Whether people like to admit it or not, there's no doubt that smartphones and tablets are killing consumer demand for dedicated gaming handhelds. Why would consumers want to spend £30+ on a game when they can get a huge variety of enjoyable games on the App Store, etc. for free? Smartphones and tablets aren't going anywhere soon either, so decicated gaming handhelds need to somehow adapt to the times or be lost in the dusts of time.
I think that next year the decicated gaming handheld market will continue to decline and total sales will be under 20m.
Thoughts?
My prediction threads:
Wii U will sell under 40m units (made on 14th September 2012)
PS Vita will sell under 20m units (made on 30th September 2012)
Wii U will sell under 7m in 2013 - I was right
