Nintendo is happy to tell you how many gazillions of DS systems they sold, but Fortune magazine sees things a bit differently. They think that Apple is creeping up and gnawing off some of Nintendo's portable market share. The Apple App Store is blowing up and the iPad is riding the bumpers of all the mobile gadgets out there, according to a study by Morgan Stanley's Katy Huberty. Her study shows that gaming handhelds are a candidate for cannibalization.
Our favorite analyst, Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter is on the same page: "The introduction of the 3DS some time this fiscal year may serve to hold off substitution of iPod Touch for DS, but we think that ultimately, Apple will gain share in the handheld market."
There's a million iPads sold, and 3.5 million apps for it. Apple is also about to launch Game Center, that social Xbox Live-like game networking functionality, this summer.
Yes, Nintendo did say they sold over 128 million DS systems, but I'd imagine they're still keeping a close eye on Apple.
Nintendo Hurt By iPad Surge, finds Study [Industrygamers]
Dale North is Destructoid's Editor-In-Chief, a founding editor, and specialist in Japanese gaming. An accomplished musician, Dale was reporting from Japan during the earthquakes of 2011. Luckily, he got the fuck out alive and is home in America now with his wife and beloved corgi, Einstein. Dale is also a co-founder of Destructoid's sister anime site
Japanator. Likes Corgis, Sega Saturn, PSP, iPhone, Photographic tools.
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Contest:
2:20 PM on 05.07.2010 | 
My immediate thoughts were: "Yeah, that sounds about right."
Oh but it's only 99 cents! Let's all fekin' buy it anyway.
They think it's:
My laptop plays games.
My DS plays games.
I will have to choose between a DS and Laptop.
Rather than:
My Laptop plays games.
My DS plays games.
Why the fuck would I get a DS if I want a Laptop?
I don't doubt that handhelds are starting to face competition, but I think Nintendo knows the market pretty well. Heck, it's what kept them going (not fanboys, no matter what they think) during the N64/Gamecube debacle.
To assume Apple is significantly hurting Nintendo, you have to assume
1. Apple's products compete with Nintendo's in an "either Apple or Nintendo" manner
2. You have to ignore the natural cycle of Nintendo's products and the fact that a new handheld console announcement will significantly hurt the sales of the current one, and account accordingly
3. You have to ignore the fact that Nintendo had a record year 4 years into the aging DS's life cycle, in direct competition with the iPod touch, a much more similar device
4. You have to ignore the significant differences between the iPad and the DS in cost and size.
5. You have to measure in terms of marketshare rather than revenue and growth, and you have to redefine the market to include Apple products, which had never been done before.
I have to ask if this kind of reporting really brings in any revenue, or if the "journalist" involved had a personally reason to make the comparison. Unless people are actually interested in these comparisons, there is no benefit to making them.
fairly certain parents would rather spend 100 or so on a used DS for their seven year old than a 200 dollar ipod touch.
I'm with Renegade, getting quite sick of hearing about the iTouch myself. The only things I've ever seen my friends buy on their touches are one of the many duplicate time wasters (Doodle jump, for one), and totally pointless things like iBeer and that "gun" simulator.
I believe journalists and analysts wanna see Nintendo go right back to where it was 5 years ago, last place.
They can't seem to just get over how wrong they were, and it's understandable since what Nintendo was doing wasn't done before, but it amazes me how they CONTINUE to be wrong.
I think reading your post just clarified this whole news post, I think it's now null and void.
Or to put it more simply, "Study confuses correlation and causation".
"So much of what I've seen and heard just sounds like cheap novelty crap that is good for wasting time on the bus and nothing more."
Let's not forget about the toilet ;)
Seriously, though. For those of us who do all our portable gaming in those situations, the iPhone is perfect. (Can't speak to the iPad, since I've never used one.) I barely have time to game other than at home, and when I am home, I'd rather play my 360 than look at the three inch screen of my PSP or iPhone.
To each his own, I suppose.
I'm guilty of that. I only play the DS when I go on a LONG road trip. I've considered trading it in, but I'll wait and see what comes from the 3DS before I do, besides, I would definitely like to try out Picross 3D, looks mighty interesting...
http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/04/12/the-wepad-gets-a-price-and-launch-date/
"since what Nintendo was doing wasn't done before"
You're wrong. Nintendo did the same thing 25 years ago.
Oh yes, sure. You may plunk down a buck on a game, but how often do you do that? Most are shallow flirtations at best, and while I have the several hundreds of games, I haven't even bothered to start playing them all. I snag them when I see them for free, and that's it. Not to mention with my iTouch, I can't game for more than an hour or two at the max without it complaining of thirst. Sure, the iPad wins in battery power, but carry that in a pocket. I'll wait.
Also, since I'm an iTouch user, I have to pay for my firmware updates. What? Your favorite app had an update but it requires a version you're not running? Sorry, you're SOL. And God help you if Apple takes a game off the App Store that you bought but didn't want to keep on your computer (because all of the apps I own now have broken the 10GB mark and I can't afford to let those eat up space).
I don't want an iPod Tablet, and I have more value in the few DS games I have anyway. Oh well.
YOU are not representative of the population as a whole. YOU are not even a proper sample size. YOUR experiences with YOUR electronic devices is a snapshot of nothing.
Pachter does this for a living. He's an industry analyst, and a good one. You have no clue concerning the things on which he comments.
You people PLAY games, and this in no way, shape, manner or form makes you an expert on industry goings on, let alone capable of competing with the likes of Pachter where his observation and commentary are concerned.
You don't like what he says because it somehow offends your sensibilities, the reason for this offense being your lack of knowledge and understanding.
No of you know what the fuck you're talking about.
Hahaha, you just went all Pach Attack on everybody. Good show!
That beats both the DS and the iPad.
Look, I'm not an analyst, never even thought of myself as one, but from comments Pachter has made in the past few years, I don't go by much of what he says at all. He can make many a prediction, but several times he's been proven wrong.
First the whole WiiHD, and it's coming out soon!! Several times Nintendo was asked about it, and every time they denied it. Of course they probably DO HAVE one in the works, but it can't be the same console with prettier graphics, they've said it themselves that it'll have to be more than that.
Then some time afterward...
“The holiday Wii sales boost was primarily attributable to a $50 gift card promotion offered by Wal-Mart,” he asserts. “While we expect similar promotions at holiday next year, we expect the other consoles to be lower-priced by then, further eroding the Wii’s competitive price advantage.”
So, Pachter says that it's because of the $50 Gift Card that the Wii had a sales boost OVERALL? There's territories that DON'T HAVE A WALMART, so how does that account for total growth? Heck, not a lot of people heard about that Holiday Special, One major game boosted the Wii during the holidays, New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
I'll just refrain from saying anymore SBC SLAM, if you enjoy hearing from Pachter, fine, I won't even try to debate it with you, and I respect your opinion.
Best regards, Katya, CEO of cd burners for computers, free iscsi target software for windows