Here’s some dumb quotes from a couple of people concerning the handheld/portables gaming market.
This is from Gene Munster, an analyst at Investment Bank and Asset Management firm Piper Jaffray:
“Overall, we expect Apple devices to continue to expand in teen ownership and believe that the company is set up well to benefit from loyalty among its younger user base.”
Okay what’s your point? Now maybe times have changed since I was a teenager, but I’m thinking most teens do not have a lot of income. Unless you’re 16+ and have a job, where are you getting money from? An allowance? That generally doesn’t amount to much. I would guess most teens have to have their parents buy games and a tablet and what not for them. Not exactly something I’d say is poised to overtake traditional portables. Afterall, what parent wants to spend $400+ on an iPad? Especially when you could buy a 3DS for $170 or a Vita for $250.
Finnish developer Supercell’s general manager Greg Harper had this to say:
“That market seems in trouble to me. The iPad Mini could be one of the final nails in the coffin.”
Doubtful. First off, the iPad Mini is not confirmed. It’s rumored. Until it’s non-vaporware, it can’t make a dent in anything. Secondly, everyone challenger to Nintendo’s dominance in the portable market has been soundly defeated. Atari, Sega, NEC, Tiger, Sony, etc., none have taken the top-selling spot away from Nintendo. As proven with the 3DS price drop, people do not want to spend more than $200 on a portable system, which is one of the main reasons the Vita doesn’t sell as well as the 3DS. And buying a tablet will not necessarily mean the same person will not buy a portable system. Most of us have a desktop or laptop computer. Does that mean we don’t buy home console systems? Not usually, no. So why would this be any different?
Gene Munster also said:
“The smaller iPad appears to be an attractive option for teens as 43 per cent of teens planning on buying a tablet said they would be more likely to do so if Apple released a smaller iPad at $299.”
Again, how are these teens paying for this? If they don’t have jobs, where are they getting $300+ from? A teenager is someone between the ages of 13-19. Where I live, you can’t get a job if you’re under 16 without a permit and parents’ permission and you can only work a limited amount of hours per week. So that eliminates virtually all 13, 14, and 15 year olds from buying this. Now 16-19 year olds could theoretically buy one if they have a job, but not all of them will have jobs most likely. I know I floated from job to job when I was a teen, and took several breaks between jobs. And this quote is also misleading because it says 43 percent of teens planning on buying a tablet. Well they already said they are going to buy one, so of course the data looks skewed that way. It should’ve been a survey of all teens, not just ones wanting to buy a tablet. I could say 100% of all people who said they want to buy a 3DS will buy one if the price drops another $50, but that doesn’t mean much. They already said they want to buy one, so they will be buying one eventually regardless if the price drops or not. And more likely to buy and actually buying are two different things. Until they actually buy something, it’s not a sale. Are tablets popular? Yes. Is mobile gaming on the rise? Yes. Will it put Nintendo & Sony out of the portable business? Doubtful at best.