I've been thinking about it lately... The 3DS can go right out the door next year with the whole "Handheld/Console NX system". I'm sure going to miss the 3DS when it's being no longer supported by Nintendo or the fans. Next year the 3DS turns 5 years old...  that's a long time for a handheld. I remember talking to my friend Lilly about the "new ds" coming out back in 2010.  Wow I feel old, it's as if I watched a whole generation of a console go right past me. So be the Doctor for me.... How much time does my beloved 3DS have left to live? :(        

When the handheld NX comes out, it will be the end of the system, and that is next year. Nintendo will go out with a bang releasing Fire Emblem Fates and possibly Pokemon Z, but after that, the system will fade away and the NX will take its place.

Basically another year. When NX gets close to launching then the system will be phased out.

About a year and a half. And I wouldn't bet on a new Nintendo handheld at all, to be quite honest. But that's another story.

Why not? Do you think there will be a hybrid combinated system, or that there won't be any kind of handheld at all?

I'd say at least two more years. Even if the NX-handheld, if such a thing is going to exist, releases next year, 3DS will still remain relevant for at least a year more before it's decline is substantial enough. It's not going to be dropped on the spot. After that, it could even take up to two more years before it's finally discontinued altogether.

I think they will be releasing a handheld type of thing only in japan, where it still sells good. But in the west, I think they will concentrate on smartphones for their mobile games. While the numbers of the 3DS aren't particularly bad in europe and the US, they are also not anywhere near where Nintendo wants to be and I just don't see any potential for growth in that market at the moment. 

One year in the West, two years in Japan.

I don't really think Nintendo would just abandon their most succesful market, specially when it's still profitable (not Wii-DS profitable, but just regular profitable). Even if mobile games are dominating, Nintendo is mostly popular with handhelds. Even the Wii couldn't outsell the DS or the GameBoy. Unless they are not worht it anymore, Nintendo will keep handhelds going, even if they have to combine it with mobile strategies and hybrid hardware.

Lol.Nintendo has said time and time again that theu wont put "AAA" games on smartphones.So if they dont bring the handhels to the west, the audience that once played on the handhels wont move ober to mobile, they will simply fade.And handheld does very well on the west.So no, if they make another handheld, which they most likely will, they will bring it to the west.