Total 3DS software sales after 48 months (Feb 2011 to Feb 2015) = 184,589,240
Total DS software sales after 48 months (Nov 2014 to Nov 2008) = 324,515,156

Total 3DS hardware sales after 48 months (Feb 2011 to Feb 2015) = 51,335,876
Total DS hardware sales after 48 months (Nov 2014 to Nov 2008) = 85,667,470

Total 3DS hardware sales after 48 months (Feb 2011 to Feb 2015) = 3.60
Total DS software ratio after 48 months (Nov 2014 to Nov 2008) = 3.79

Total 3DS weekly sales after 48 months (February 21st week) = *282,829
Total DS weekly sales after 48 months (**February 21st week) = 340,515

*New3DS.
**Same week launch align is on christmas eve.

Pretty good giving the doomed staus (with tablets/etc) and not to mention No western support (third party compared to last gen).

Edit: No casuals either (Brain Age/Nintendogs/etc)

Which really isn't too bad when u take into account that DS is by far the best selling handheld ever.

That and my last post before this.

a lot of people forget that the Nintendo DS was hugely popular during a period in which smartphones HAD become the norm (mid 2000s). I don't think that the handheld market is dead at all as long as the hardward is cleverly designed and plenty of software is released. there are many many many gamers who don't find satisfaction from more casual cell phone mobile games and still want a strong gaming experience 'on the go'

I see the dip between DS and the 3DS being mainly due to how well the 3DS did and the fact that design wise the 3DS is very similar to the DS. If Nintendo revolutionized the look of their next handheld it could do better than the 3DS as obviously there still is a huge demand for Nintendo handhelds (my local electronic stores rarely have 3DS's just sitting around these days, although maybe partially that is due to the whole West Coast strike thing)

 I think one thing that hurt the 3DS is not having a big enough differential from the DS. sure it has improved graphics, the '3D' quality, and a slightly different button layout- BUT at a quick glance it looks the same. consumers generally get excited about something totally new and different and jump on it. you are going to have a big portion of casual consumers who will just glance and think they already have or had the item because they don't care to look closely. sort of ala the terrible decision to name the Wii's successor the "Wii U' when it had little to nothing to do with the Wii in terms of controls and gaming style

but at any rate, anyone stating that handhelds don't have a future is talking crazy. the 3DS is doing fairly well and might match the GBA (which isn't bad at all). bear in mind some handhelds such as the original Gameboy and the PSP had pretty long lifecycles too. its natural for people to talk crap about the numbers when the DS did so sumblimely, but again, that was a one time thing (just like the PS2) and sort of due to the revolutionary double screen/touch screen at the time

Last gen 240M handhelds were sold. This gen we will probably have 100M with luck. That's one hell of a contraction.

Like I have said previously, u have to look at the full picture, not just a single generation that was by and far more popular than previous generations.

NES-61 million, Game & Watch-43 million, software-500 million

SNES-49 million, Gameboy-54 million (89-96), software-500 million

N64-33 million, Gameboy-64 million (97-03), software-500 million

GC-22 million, GB Advance-81 million, software-500 million

Wii-100 million, Nintendo DS-150 million, software-1.8 billion

Wii U-15 million, 3DS-65 million, software-400 million (estimates)

Wii/DS should be taken completely out of the discussion because they are simply outliers whose success are not likely to be replicated. For each  of Nintendo's first 4 generations, they sold roughly 100 million units of hardware with a pretty consistant breakdown between regions, Americas-50 million, Japan-25 million, Europe-25 million, give or take a few million in each. This generation Japan/Others are on track to hitting their previous baseline while Americas is looking at about a 40% decline or about 30 million lifetime. Let's also take a look at price of hardware in the middle of each generation.

1988, NES-$99.99, Game & Watch-$19.99 each

1993, SNES-$129.99, Gameboy-$89.99

1998, N64-$129.99, Gameboy Color-$69.99

2003, GC-$99.99, GB Advance SP-$99.99

2015, Wii U-$299.99, New 3DS XL-$199.99

Adjusted for inflation, in the middle of each generation u could get both pieces of Nintendo hardware for about $300, now it's $500 to get both. A 40% increase in price along with a 40% decrease in sales in the Americas, is that a coincidence? Maybe, or perhaps since American kids have traditionally been one of, if not the biggest markets for Nintendo, is price a huge factor in getting these devices in American kids hands? I think that is a very distinct possibility.

Going forward if Nintendo's next handheld and console each cost about $199.99-249.99 at launch and are down to $149.99 or so 2-3 years later than can they get back to 50 million units sold in the Americas? I believe it's very possible.

Yeap, but to gen 9 it wont be down nowhere near as much ^

Probably not, because they are down by more than 60%. But a 20 or 30% contraction on gen 9 would still look terrible.

But at the same time, there is no proof or data that shows their handhelds will continue to decline. Yes, a 20-30% decline is possible but so is 20-30% increase.