According to Mat Piscatella "Next Gen consoles sales will not have a major effect on Switch sales"

[zorg1000]

The_Liquid_Laser said:

zorg1000 said:

They have overlap but they are aimed at different demographics.

PS/XB are aimed primarily at the 13-35 year old male demographic that plays online military shooters, sports/racing sims & open-world/cinematic action games.

Nintendo aims for a more broad demographic which includes children, females & families with things like platformers, turn based games, arcade style games, local multiplayer games, puzzle games, fitness/rhythm games and social sims.

So while they compete in the general sense that they are video game devices aimed at video game players, they are not direct competitors because they do not compete for the same demographics.

The problem with this argument is that all 3 are actually competing for all the demographics.  When Nintendo has exclusives like Bayonnetta or Xenoblade Chronicles, they are competing for the 13-35 year old male.  Not to mention that this category really likes games like BotW or Smash Bros as well.  And when Sony or Microsoft produces games like Little Big Planet, Knack or anything with the Minecraft label, then they are competing outside of the 13-35 male demographic.  On top of this all 3 have plenty of third party games that appeal to a variety of demographics.  

All 3 companies are trying to get all of the current gaming market onto their platform.  They might each have a different focus, but they are similar enough to still be directly competing.  You might as well say Netflix, Hulu, Apple+ and Disney+ are not competing streaming platforms.  They each have a different focus, but they still directly compete with one another.  They are offering a similar type of product and aiming it at the same broad group of consumers.  These companies are directly competing.  The big 3 gaming companies are doing the same thing.

Note the words "overlap", "primarily" and "includes" in my post.

Yes, PS4 & XBO also have games aimed at other demographics but they make up a very small percentage of releases and sales on those consoles.

And yes, Nintendo does also aim towards the demographic that PS/XB do but it's not their main focus, their main focus is to aim for all demographics, not any specific one.