How many years does the 3DS have left?

[zorg1000]

Soundwave said:

zorg1000 said:
What does everybody think 3DS sales will look like in the next 2-3 years? I'm thinking

2014, 10-11 million

2015, 8-9 million

2016, 5-7 million (depending if successor releases)

That's probably spot on, and also why Nintendo simply cannot wait until 2017. They can't sustain themselves with 3DS sales that low, and no the next Nintendo fan who waltzes and says "don't worry, Wii U will carry Nintendo until 2017!" needs to stop drinking the kool-aid. 

Nintendo has never had handheld shipments lower than 10 million since the mid-1990s when the Game Boy brand was temporarily fizzling out (before Pokemon), which is why Yamauchi allowed the Virtual Boy experiment to go ahead because they needed something else to sell. 

Sub-10 million shipments of portables for Nintendo is a "danger zone". 

I still think Spring 2017 isn't too out of the question, 2015 has New 3DS plus a pretty solid software lineup, 2016 could see price cuts for all models plus one final holiday push. Holiday 2016 or Spring 2017 are the most likely options in my opinion.