Analyst: NX doesn't need to compete against PS4 & Xbox One to be successful

[Soundwave]

The problem with the 3DS is yes it's relatively successful, but on a per year shipment basis it's falling into territory that's their lowest since before Pokemon was created. Yes even the Game Boy Color had far better yearly shipments.

I think the issue the 3DS has was that early in its life cycle tablets were still prohibitively expensive for most people. When it was basically like a $500 iPad. But today kids have access to $100 tablets, so parents just buy each kid their own tablet.

I see this *all* the time on airplanes and in airports, as I travel a lot for work. Little kids with each sibling having their own tablet (probably because their parents got tired of listening to them fight over one). And they're loaded with free/cheap games.

So the first half of the 3DS cycle was OK, but the last few years where I think the impact of these cheap tablets is being felt moreso is leading their portable division into a yearly decline every year ... not even the 2DS + Pokemon was able to stop this decline (which is what a lot of people here were swearing would happen ... 3DS sales were going to explode ... never happened).