Sales of handheld gaming consoles have started to stall according to new data from iSuppli. It seems that the threat of smartphones such as the iPhone is starting to have an effect, but we should not discount the possibility of saturation in the market.
On a personal level I cannot see how a Nintendo DS or Sony PSP will compete long term with the iPhone and the high-end Android devices. Of course dedicated gaming consoles offer a superior experience, but is it superior enough to beat off the pricing of the smartphone games and the proliferation of the smartphone market which enables multi-player to a level we have never seen before? No it isn’t…
Both the PSP and DS have been around a long time now. It’ll be more interesting to see how the 3DS fares when it goes on sale next year. I suspect both Sony and Nintendo will look at the smartphone or gaming market in the long term in any case. Don’t forget there are both Sony Minis and DSIware as a foothold into making/selling more smartphone friendly type games.