Slow 3DS start, late 3DS successor?

[Soundwave]

I think there's still quite a few 3DS games coming anyway so there's not a big need to worry ...

Youkai Watch 2 (and Yokai Watch for Western markets)
New Super Mario Bros. 3 (?) - NSMB2 team has been free for a long time.
Pokemon Z
Dragon Quest XI - 2nd half 2015 (?)
Monster Hunter 4G
Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D
Great Detective Pikachu
Big Nintendo 3DS title (to be unveiled at E3 developer conference)

There probably will be more from Japanese third parties. Kinda surprised that the 3DS hasn't gotten any Final Fantasy remakes yet for example.

Even if a new Nintendo portable shows up for say March/April 2016, odds are it will be fairly ambitious in hardware scope and may need to cost $200-$220 at launch.

That means the 3DS will have to stick around for a couple more years anyway as the low budget option ($99-$129).