UncleScrooge said:
haxxiy said:
| UncleScrooge said:
If smartphones truly are a threat to Nintendo's and Sony's handheld business, fine. But so far all claims seem to be based on slowing DS sales... and those are clearly a result of slowing support and the age of the hardware.
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The point is that the iPhone alone for instance is selling like 1m a week. If you consider the small costs of developing to it and the number of people that will casually buy games on a smartphone (let's say 25% to be on safe grounds) and you'll see how tempting the business is becoming. For me at least there is a considerable chance of the 3DS and the PSP-2 being devoid of third party support on the middle term.
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1 million games (which sounds low) or one million iPhone units? Because that would equal 52 million iPhones per year. Maybe 1 million iOS devices?
Sure the iPhone is a very attractive market for developers but so far it looks like the iPhone is expanding the market, not competing with the DS.
Don't get me wrong I don't doubt the iPhones potential to eat into Nintendo's market but so far this is only backed up by slowing DS sales and no real data.
And Nintendo's biggest markets which are children, core gamers and most expanded audience members (like women around the age of 40, elder people, families) won't start buying iPhones because they are not part of the iPhones target market.
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I think your skepticism is pretty healthy, but slowing DS sales aren't the only evidence. There was also a (slightly dodgy) study that placed iPhone game software revenue above PSP software revenue in the US, and now we have this UK survey of what kids want for Christmas:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/8084305/Children-want-gadgets-not-toys-for-Christmas.html
The top 10 toys for Christmas 2010, according to the report are:
1) iPhone 4 (14%)
2) iPod touch (13%)
3) iPad (12%)
4) Kinect for Xbox (6%)
5) Zhu Zhu Pet Hamsters / Kung Zhu Hamsters (5%)
6) Flip Video Camera (4%)
7) Toy Story 3 Jet Pack Buzz Lightyear (4%)
8) PlayStation Move (4%)
9) LEGO Harry Potter Years 1-4 Video Game (3%)
10) Barbie Video Girl (3%)
I have no idea who would give their child a $500 iPad or a smartphone with an expensive data contract, but the iPod Touch seems a pretty reasonable alternative. Here's hoping the total lack of Nintendo products in that list is because all these kids already have Wiis and DSes.
As haxxiy says, Apple is on track to sell around 50 million iPhones this calendar year, and perhaps as many as 40 million other iOS devices on top of that. These devices are much more attractive to the expanded audience than you think. iOS is basically doing for general computing what the Wii and DS did for gaming: It's lowering barriers for non-users by making the interface simpler and more engaging.