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IcaroRibeiro on 02 January 2021
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VideoGameAccountant said:
IcaroRibeiro said:

The only logical way is to either count it as a separate entity or comparing both markets together to include Switch sales because Switch belongs to both categories 

Otherwise you are double counting a single purchase as the hybrid aspect of Switch isn't generating more revenue because of the double counting 

8th gen

PVita - 5.92

3DS - 24.64

Wii U - 3.33

PS4 - 9.28

XBONE - 0.12M

9th gen

Switch - 17.06M

PS5 - 0.24M

XSX - 0.03M

9th gen needs at least more 25 million hardware sold to catch up 8th gen which factually won't happen unless some miracle happens and PS5 manage to archieve PS1 levels of popularity 

This conversation will be more interesting if we include software sales. If the software sales growth due to Switch hybrid nature is strong enough to offset the MASSIVE decline in hardware sales, then we can say JP market is flat or even growing, otherwise the market for dedicated hardware is just declining no matter if in home console segment or in the handheld segment as this distinction itself is now almost irrelevant

Generation will more consoles has more sales than generation with fewer consoles. More at 11.

Joking aside, the problem with this assessment is you're not comparing apples to apples. Sure, let's say total Gen 9 consoles sales are less than Gen 8. But Gen 8 has more systems. This means someone could own a Wii U, a 3DS and a Vita in Gen 8 but they would just own a Switch in Gen 9. So there really wasn't a decline since that customer is still in the market and still buys systems and games. The best comparison would be to remove the Vita and Wii U since you can assume those customers should be absorbed into another system (or try and come up with a factor to reduce them). Or, as you mentioned, look at software as this should remain consistent (someone may buy multiple systems but probably wouldn't have bought multiple of the same title). Otherwise, right now it's a flawed analysis because we should expect the sales of 5 systems is greater than the sales of 3 systems. 

However more consoles in the market means higher revenue from hardware units which means the market shrinking as far as hardware revenue is concerned 

I questioned whether having less systems in the market will lead to more software spending. If software revenue growth is big enough to cover the hardware loss, then the market is flat or growing. If it's not, then the market is declining

Ultimately, I don't think we can separate home and handled console markets anymore. Nintendo is the only company releasing dedicated handhelds, and their best selling model is a hybrid. What can be said however is home-exclusive consoles are failing to meet their past popularity, with Japanese customers choosing portable or hybrid models instead