The Nintendo 3DS has been released in early 2011 and the PlayStation Vita from Sony is now out but despite the high profile launches analysts are expecting to see the handheld market continue to decline in the coming years.
Peter Warman, who is an analyst of the handheld market, stated, “As long as Apple and Samsung do not promote their iPod-type devices as portable game consoles for kids, the 3DS might be around for a while”, as the Vita cover the need for a more powerful device.
Jesse Divnich, who watches the video game market for market analysis firm EEDAR, “The sandbox may not be as big as it was back in 2009, but there is still plenty of room for Sony and Nintendo to generate significant profits, as well as the third-party publishers that support them.”
The analyst believes that the handheld gaming market will continue to be under threat from smartphones and that there will be space for just two major devices to battle for the money and the gaming time of players.
The biggest problem for both Sony and Nintendo is that casual gaming has moved almost entirely to tablets and smartphones, where gamers pay much less for the experiences and it’s easier to set up multiplayer matches.
The handheld market is still more attractive for companies that are delivering hardcore gaming experience but as smartphones and tablets continue to evolve this segment might also begin to shrink.
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Nintendo 3DS has performed worse than expected during its initial launch but after a price cut and the launch of high profile games like Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 the platform seems to be enjoying a better period.
The Vita has shipped 700,000 devices for its Japanese launch and will be released on Western markets in late February 2012.
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