The Nintendo Switch has been very successful as of late and other companies are beginning to take notice. One of these companies is Razer, and Razer plans to create some kind of mobile entertainment device for consumers by the end of this year or early next year. What could this mean for the mobile gaming industry?
Competition for Nintendo
For the past decade now Nintendo has been on top of the gaming handheld market. Sony has attempted to make strides in this market with devices like the PSP and Vita but eventually, these devices went under after a few years or so.
The problem that occurs when it comes to marketing for mobile use usually comes down to these factors: how mobile is the device? What games does the device have? Does this device have a good amount of content? What market is this device targeted for? If a company can answer these questions then they have a better chance of surviving in the market, however, that doesn't mean they will.
The reason Nintendo has survived so long in the handheld market is that they take these details into account and improve upon it once they get it right. So, while other companies are focusing on the beginning steps Nintendo is already improving upon its formula for success. This doesn't mean other companies can't go into a market that's already taken over by a company.
It just means it will be harder for more companies to make it into the market and survive. Take YouTube as an example. Since 2005 YouTube has been an entertainment giant and is still growing. They don't have direct competition but they do have competition in a different sense which would be video entertainment/streaming. Razer can still compete with Nintendo if they take the basics of success into account and understand their strengths and weaknesses.
Razer may not even be trying to compete with Nintendo directly -- rather, they could be trying to get more sales from a potentially successful market.
Could this cause trouble for the Switch?
If Razer makes something that is somewhat powerful and has interesting games it could give Nintendo some trouble. But this also leads to good things for Nintendo as well, if they realize that they have some competition this could increase their overall work effort.
It's hard to tell what could happen to Razer in the future regarding this matter but one thing is certain: if Razer does decide to make this mobile device and it turns out to be something people are interested in, it could be another great option for people to take on-the-go.