which is why I say the decline will continue

Decline? sure but not a huge drop like this gen. My entire point being HHs future isnt dead ;-D

thats funny the PSP had no problem and some of there biggest hits were in depth 3d games.

How did they sacrifce portability? it was the exact same size of DS lite. the 3d sucked sure, but i wouldnt say it hurt it, maybe initially. But i agree the 3d sucked

You think it would have been better operating like a smart phone? Why would the masses buy another device that not only looks like something they already have but has even less functionality. Hell that goes for gamers too, i barely want to play games on my smart phone i sure as hell not gonna plunk down an extra few hundred for crap touch controls.

I dont think they wanted to compete with smart phones that is a fight they cant win. For the same reasons you say, you know good and well Ninty is not going to price their games cheap. And parents are not gonna wanna spend 40 on a game no matter how "good" it is. This is where i say people put way too much stock in Ninty games.

Yeah I don't think we've seen the bottom yet. If Nintendo can hold at even 60 million, that would be fairly impressive given what they're up against. 

From the DS to 3DS tranistion they lost about 75 million, if they can only lose say about 15 million next time around ... it's a minor victory. 

oh it has a future...a declining one. Its not going to go up from here.

Never over 65mil again? (estimating 3DS sales lifetime) Sure, but if all HHs can maintain over 30mil+ i dont think there really isnt any need to worry. 

30-35 mill would be fairly disastrous I would think if the console/home variant stays around 15-17 million ... I don't think Nintendo will be able to justify the expensive/investment in dedicated hardware if they ever go that low. 

They need to realistically stay above 40 mill WW at least and more ideally above 50 mill with portables at least. Under 40 is probably getting into a danger zone. 

The PSP was launched at the peak of PS brand popularity, hade huge marketing campaigns, was supposed to rip apart Nintendo handled division and yet it managed to sell well for about 3 years. Once the next-gen came out, most people thought it was better to buy the best home console experience rather than a miniature Ps2. Later it managed to stay relevant in japan thanks to Monster Hunter and jrpgs. The PsVita was based on the same concept (miniature home console games) and we all see where it is. Also what's funny about it? I though we were having a conversation and we weren't just mocking each other. Maybe I was wrong.

Yes, they have sacrificed portability. Portability is not just about size, the 3DS has a terrible battery life and has a light reflecting glass over its screen, that makes it very hard to use in natural light conditions. Plus the circle pad os quite unconfortable to use, expecially if you have big hands. Clearly they focused too much on 3D every other design decision was merely an afterthougt for them.

I'm not saying it should operate like a smartphone, the PsVita has a single capacitive screen too, is that a smartphone? Also I'd like to quote: "Why would masses buy another device that not only looks like something they already have but has even less functionality". Why would a gamer buy an handled that looks similar to an home console (which they already have) but whith less functionality? Handleds are supposed to offer something different, that home consoles are less suited to offer. Ok, you may say every game you make on an handled can be made an home console too, that's true. But, whould you really use a Ps4 to play Tetris? I don't think so. Home consoles are not suitable for 5 to 20 minutes breaks, are not pick-up and play anymore. Consoles nowadays are all about immersion, you'll hardly even turn on your Ps4 if you don't plan to play for at least half an hour.

You say Nintendo shouldn't compete whith smarphones and yet you say handleds are declining because of smartphones. In any business you don't have very much choice but to compete, unsless you want to retreat. But that's probably what you do want, Nintendo to retreat from business.

With digital delivery they could tear down game prices significanlty without compromising their margins, or else they should find a way to make their games appear more valueble to the average customer. They'll have to adapt with times and accept  DD like they did whith optical discs.

Nintendo games have still a lot of potential, in fact 3DS still managed to sell +50m units whith very little 3rd party support and surely not because of its hardware.

I don't think any platforms have a good future

Game & Watch-43 million (1980-1990)
Gameboy-54 million (1989-1996)
Gameboy-64 million (1997-2003)
GB Advance-81 million (2001-2008)
Nintendo DS-154 million (2004-2013)
3DS-50 million and rising (2011-2014)

3DS is on track to sell around 70 million, give or take, which is higher than the average Nintendo generation when excluding Nintendo DS.

Will next-gen decline? Maybe, phones/tablets do offer up added competition but at the same time people are quick to point out mistakes Nintendo has made with 3DS so could a big part of that decline be due to Nintendo's choices and not necessarily because of the competitors? I personally feel it's a mix of both.

Either way, it's pretty hard to same that the handheld market isn't still healthy, depending on the decisions Nintendo makes with their next handheld, it could either decline, rise or stay stagnant, I would predict anywhere from 50-80 million lifetime.