Thought this was an interesting read, they have comments from NOA's former VP, Perrin Kaplan and other long time Nintendo employees, does a good break down of Nintendo's past and their present, also a bit from Reggie:

http://recode.net/2014/12/05/nintendo-always-avoids-catastrophe-this-time-might-be-different/

Some quotes:

“For the first time in my career, I just don’t know what Nintendo does next,” said Casey Pelkey, who worked at Nintendo for 18 years as its marketing business director. “But you could say the same for Microsoft and Sony.”

Maybe, but it’s not enough. For a publisher deciding where to commit resources, Sony’s 13.5 million unit sales and Microsoft’s 10 million units shipped to stores are the obvious choice over 8 million on the Wii U, developing for which requires dealing with unique and less powerful hardware.

Pretty decent article, it's not crying out that Nintendo is doomed but still acknowledge that Nintendo is in a rough spot compared to the WiiDS era.

While I do not believe we will ever see Nintendo release a 100 million selling console alongside a 150 million selling handheld again, I do still believe Nintendo can stay relevant in the hardware business.

Despite losing a ton of ground to smart devices, Nintendo has shown that their ip are still very valuable and beloved, by the end of this year Nintendo will have sold close to 60 million units of hardware between 3DS & Wii U with lifetime sales over 75 million and games like 2D Mario selling over 10 million, 3D Mario over 10 million, Mario Kart over 10 million, Pokemon over 10 million, Smash Bros will be over 10 million, Animal Crossing will be over 10 million and they have a whole bunch of games selling 1-3 million units.

I feel that Nintendo should unify their hardware so that both devices share a library. This will lower hardware R&D costs and increase software output. The argument against this is that it defeats the purpose of buying both devices but we currently don't really see that now considering that Wii U has only sold about 1/6 of 3DS. But even if Fusion handheld+console sales are lower than Wii U+3DS, it's still worthwhile due to lower R&D costs and increased software revenue.

Outside of simply unifying the hardware, I also believe Nintendo needs to continue to find new ways to incorporate and push Amiibo. The recent statements about branching out to Amiibo cards alongside figurines is a good start. Games like Animal Crossing & Pokemon are good fits for this.

The article also suggests that Nintendo is losing the child crowd to smart devices and I agree with this. One way to potentially make Nintendo popular among young children is to release a children's educational tablet based around their big ip. I'm thinking of something similar to LeapPad or InnoTab which are both successful educational tablets. If Nintendo can introduce their ip to 3-6 year old kids then it's possible when they're in the 7-12 year old range they will want to own one of Nintendo's handhelds/consoles. These tablets would also allow Amiibo support.

Another thing is to continue with the health/fitness Quality of Life products. We still don't know much about them but I think a good idea would be to target the Wii Fit demographic. Now u may say that Wii Fit is dead and it would appear so based on the most recent versions sales but I think there is still a market for such games just not when it requires $300 hardware to play. They should instead release some type of standalone, rebranded Wii Fit device for $99.99 with simple, fun workout plans and diet tips. I also think they could release a companion app on smart devices.

Another thing I think that could pull in a strong profit is an optional Virtual Console subscription service. Nintendo's future devices should have a more robust VC, even better than the one on Wii. Let's say for $50/year u can get unlimited access to the VC. This is good for consumers because it allows for 100's of games at a low yearly fee and it's good for Nintendo because most people aren't spending that much on the VC currently.

Also Nintendo should continue to build relationships with indie developers in an attempt to strengthen the eShop to be comparable to the App Store or Google Play. Maybe Nintendo could even release a $99.99 tablet that just plays VC titles and indie eShop titles.

So even though Nintendo likely won't replicate the sales of Wii/DS, they still have a ton of options to pull in strong profits.

Nintendo Fusion handheld & console for gamers, priced at $199.99 each with a shared library, should sell 50-75 million with a bunch of strong ip capable of pushing 10 million units.

QoL directed at the former Wii Fit audience, various health/fitness products priced at $49.99-99.99

Children's educational tablets aimed at the 3-7 year old demographic to familiarize children with Nintendo's major ip. Range of tablets in the $49.99-99.99 price range.

Virtual Console subscription fee that provides consumers with great value and Nintendo with a strong source of revenue. $49.99/year

Continue to build relations with indies to build up the eShop. Virtual Console+eShop exclusive tablet priced at $99.99

Continue to push and expand Amiibo. Cards and figurines priced in the $4.99-14.99 price range. Allow functionality with multiple devices.

With all these products/services Nintendo should be able to make healthy profits and remain relevant in the hardware business.

Yeah I do have to wonder if the following wouldn't have been a much smarter idea than the "New" 3DS:

$189.99 Nintendo Android Tablet

- 6.7-inch 1280x720 (single) multitouch screen
- Plays Virtual Console games.
- Plays DS/3DS cartridges.
- Plays Android games, but only ones sold through the eShop, so Nintendo can prevent a flood of like 1000 games and also make a surcharge on each download (so they make money off even app sales).
- Android apps (non-gaming) are available per Nintendo's discretion, so it has a web browser, Facebook, Twitter, video player, music player, etc.
- Built-in NFC reader for Amiibos.
- Comes bundled with Nintendo edutainment software. 

You are on crack.

II understand what the article is trying to say. If the HDS will have a sim card slot though, it will bankrupt Japan.

Just... give up

That wouldn't be a bad device, it shouldnt replace their handhelds but could easily coexist with their next-gen hardware. Also what do u think of some of the suggestions from my other post?

I would bet money this would outsell the "New 3DS". By a large margin at that. 

An analog nub versus significantly better functionality + hundreds of more games + actual decent web browsing/video playback/music playback etc. functionality. 

Nintendo would clean up the budget tablet portion of the market. 

I agree with the gist of your post. Though I think something happened with the edutainment stuff, at one point I think they were looking at getting DS systems into Japanese classrooms because of Brain Training, but the Japanese school board or something came down harshly on the idea saying the DS is not an edutainment device. I'm not sure if it's like a Japanese thing, but Nintendo seemed to accept this 'dishonor' and stopped pursuing the idea. 

My guess about QoL is it will be different from even the Wii Fit stuff we saw. The sleep sensor thing caught everyone off guard. I'm thinking the other QoL devices will also be fairly removed from gaming. Like I think there probably will be a QoL device designed for senior citizens designed to keep them engaged. 

I don't think that any other company could do that ever. That was a feat that will only happen once in our lifetime anyway.