"...like how the Wii U was abandoned even though it was "technically" still being sold"
What? VGChartz still did track the Wii U after Nintendo stopped the production FOR MONTHS. The point where they stopped tracking it was when the Switch launched.

"Physical carts are being halted outside of Japan early next year..."
That's something that I don't understand. Sony is still selling PS Vita retail Software in the west but VGChartz has stopped tracking them. I would really appreciate it if the people who are behind the sales could explain this to me.

Yeah and where do you see me saying otherwise? 3K, 38K or even 300K doesn't change the fact that the Switch does all that the 3DS does but better so why would Nintendo even come up with the Switch if they don't mean for it to replace the 3DS at some point?

Presumably when they discontinue production of the hardware. Which at the moment, they haven't.

2018 will likely be it's last year with western sales being tracked and 2019 will likely be the year it's stopped being tracked altogether.

Only because Nintendo is not adding those games to the Switch. They can add them anytime they want, I mean there is no technical reason to prevent this, right?

I'm only speculating of course but I wouldn't count on the 3DS to have a successor or rather I should say it does have one and that is the Switch.

Or do you guys think Nintendo plans to keep both systems going in parallel beyond a certain point in time? Furthermore do you think Nintendo plans to add a successor to the 3DS that is not the Switch as in a non hybrid dedicated portable system?

Sony may not replace it at all, given its failure and how well the PS4 has done. They may put all their eggs in the home console basket. So, by this logic, the Vita must remain on the homepage until the end of time, if it is never replaced?

I meant it should still be tracked until it's discontinued, and it should stay on the front page till either it's discontinued or it's replaced.

Whenever it officially ends production worldwide

Not till the end of times but at least until Sony officially pulls the plug on it don't you think? What's the hurry? It's not like there is that much hardware in that chart to begin with. If we take down the Vita simply cause it does not sell well compared to the 3DS then perhaps we should also take down the Xbox One and eventually as I said before, the 3DS and we might as well shut down the hardware chart cause we'd only have 2 systems left on it.

Why does it bother you so much to see the Vita there? Even if it sells poorly it's still officially Sony's portable system and as such it's rightfully part of that chart.

It doesn't "bother" me, lol. I was just curious since the Wii U had been removed and I wasn't around when the PS3/360 were taken off. That said, I'm going to call out faulty logic when I see it.