Last week, the International Data Corporation essentially dismissed the notion that the console era is coming to a close despite falling revenue numbers. According to a recent study, Worldwide Game and Interactive Entertainment Console Hardware and Software 2011 -2015 Forecast (IDC #229438), the console market will reportedly begin to rebound early next year with the release of Nintendo’s Wii U.

“Total console hardware and disc-based software revenues are on track to slide a few percent in 2011 compared to 2010,” said Lewis Ward, research manager, Consumer Markets: Gaming, at IDC. “But prognostications that consoles have peaked as a product category are premature. I expect that the launch of the Wii U, a revamped interactive entertainment console from Microsoft in the 2014 timeframe, and the arrival of Sony’s ‘PS4′ circa 2015 – along with more than a few exclusive, innovative games – will help drive a new wave of console-centric spending in the next several years.”

The report goes on to declare that console hardware and physical (disc, SD) games will see a 3.6-percent compound annual growth rate between 2010 and 2015. The key reason for this bump is due to the growth of the console sector in developing countries. But at the same time, the proportional number of households that will actually use game consoles are expected to diminish as the world’s population grows.

“IDC expects there to be about 257 million active consoles worldwide by 2015, or 12.7-percent of anticipated households that year, down about 1-percent when compared to same console penetration figure for 2011,” the report reads. “In this sense, it’s possible to conclude that console popularity will slip due to the rise of media tablet gaming, casual, free-to-play/social online PC games, etc.”

As we saw with the debut of Nintendo’s Wii U console, the very definition of “gaming console” may change over the next few years. Take OnLive’s “console” as an example: it’s a small, Nintendo DS-sized device sporting two USB ports, an HDMI output, a power jack, and support for a wireless controller. While it does contain firmware, the games and the processing behind those games are located on a server somewhere else. That said, physical games may still sell in the next few years, but the industry on a whole seems to be shifting over to the cloud.

With that in mind, the role of the console as we know it may indeed be coming to a close. Who knows where the market will be in 2014 and 2015? Completely cloud-based? Will the PlayStation and Xbox brands take on a more multimedia-oriented focus?

“The forecast also shows the PS3 will have the largest active installed base of any game console worldwide by 2015,” the report claims. “In this sense, the PS2′s ‘long tail’ may ultimately repeat.” This in itself could be a major reason why the old-school console model will linger around for so long: because they’re cheaper than the new models and still supported by dedicated developers.