If DS was a fluke where's the "inevitable" handheld decline?

[vivster]

superchunk said:

vivster said:
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?

Nintendo is merging due to home decline and competition. With exception of Wii, only their portables have remained extremely profitable and popular, especially in Japan.

Sony is dropping (maybe) because they've tried twice and both times were decimated by Nintendo and they lost money while in home they are very strong.

NS will sell similar to 3DS or more. I'm betting more but will be confident on the prediction come April.

The fact that the 3DS is Nintendo's worst selling handheld so far is not really supporting your argument. The DS was a nice upswing for a gen but it went straight back to decline with the 3DS. It's the same as their home console business. People are losing interest in both Nintendo and handhelds. The Switch is an effort to stop the console business from shrinking as much as the handheld one.

If the Switch sells less than the 3DS it will prove that point.

I wouldn't base my prediction on the first month. While I'm skeptical that the Switch will ever reach the 3DS I'm confident that it will have a pretty great launch and first year.