Where is the console hardware market headed? | Opinion
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The past few weeks have seen almost endless discussion and speculation about Microsoft's future strategy and what it might mean for its role in the console hardware business – so much so that it's arguably overshadowed some broader questions about the console hardware market more generally.
We're in a very unusual place for hardware right now – still feeling the ripples and knock-on effects of the market distortions seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, even though direct effects like supply chain disruption are now behind us.
Those disrupted years have upset the rhythm of the game hardware cycle and left us with platforms whose public perception and sales are out of sync with their actual position in the cycle.
On the one hand, you have Nintendo's Switch – unquestionably an amazing device and a triumphant return to form for the company, but very clearly skidding up against the end of its lifecycle at this point. Nintendo has an astonishing ability to work around technical limitations that would be considered dealbreakers for any other company, but even that ability has limits.
The inability to output 4K is less of a problem on a primarily handheld system, but it's increasingly hard to ignore how much the Switch is outperformed even by mid-range smartphones at this point, and Nintendo's flagship titles have left very few drops of blood to be squeezed out of this rock.
On the other hand, you have the PS5 and Xbox Series X, high-end consoles that are actually quite deep into their lifespans but which don't feel that way for many consumers, thanks to pandemic-era shortages which kept shelves bare (and scalpers wealthy) for years after launch. Many consumers seem to have been a little blindsided by recent discussion of when next-generation hardware will show up; to them, it feels like the current generation has barely started.
The situation is further complicated by the existence of Xbox Series S, which
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