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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - How much longer can the 3DS actually last?

TheMisterManGuy on 16 November 2018
jonathanalis said:
Until switch receive a mini version, PSVita size or smaller, (maybe even rebranded if do not make sense calling it switch anymore), in the 150$ price range or lower (sold at profit), with higher battery life.
maybe it will only be realistic in 2 or 3 years. 4 years might be the upper limit.

The Switch is not really that big TBH. Without the Joy-Con attached, it's roughly the size of a 3DS XL. Besides, in a day and age of smartphones, most people don't really care about a pocket sized gaming system. Switch is portable enough that it can co-exist with phones. 



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Azzanation on 16 November 2018

They are still quite expensive to buy. I wanted to upgrade to the New 3DS yet they sell for $200au which is half the cost of a brand new PS4/XB1.



Kerotan on 16 November 2018

Sales this year both HW and SW have been very low. Next year they will be extremely low. However Sony are still selling the Vita so who knows how long they'll last. Probably officially discontinued in 2020 after a dockless switch with releases next year.



Kerotan on 16 November 2018
NightlyPoe said:
Kerotan said:
Sales this year both HW and SW have been very low. Next year they will be extremely low. However Sony are still selling the Vita so who knows how long they'll last. Probably officially discontinued in 2020 after a dockless switch with releases next year.

Depends on your definition of low really.  Looks like it'll sell about 3 million this year.  For zombie hardware, that's very good.

It all comes down to price I believe.  Once the Switch goes >$170, it takes over the mantle of budget console for Nintendo.  But while I think we'll see a price drop of $50 early next year, I don't see a portable-only model available for under $200 for quite some time.

Until then, the 3DS can just keep chugging along.

I'm sure it will be the revenue brought in from sales in 2019 will be pretty insignificant to Nintendo overall. 2020 even less so. The vita shows however that companies can keep these things going even if they're not very profitable. 



TheMisterManGuy on 16 November 2018
NightlyPoe said:

Depends on your definition of low really.  Looks like it'll sell about 3 million this year.  For zombie hardware, that's very good.

It all comes down to price I believe.  Once the Switch goes >$170, it takes over the mantle of budget console for Nintendo.  But while I think we'll see a price drop of $50 early next year, I don't see a portable-only model available for under $200 for quite some time.

Until then, the 3DS can just keep chugging along.

I think what would be a better idea is to bring that dock-less Switch bundle to the US alongside a hypothetical price cut. So you'd have a $199 Switch without a dock, $249 bundle with the dock, and a $299 new model with improved features. 



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PortisheadBiscuit on 16 November 2018

It's almost if they won't stop until it hits 80m, which will take a while at this point. If they can get the 2DSXL down to $99, I think it'll give it a momentum boost.



Kerotan on 16 November 2018
PortisheadBiscuit said:
It's almost if they won't stop until it hits 80m, which will take a while at this point. If they can get the 2DSXL down to $99, I think it'll give it a momentum boost.

I can't see it ever passing the PSP at this point. So under 80m for me. 



TheMisterManGuy on 16 November 2018
NightlyPoe said:

That's long been an assumption, but that dock is so cheap that I question whether Nintendo wants to give a $50 discount for it and an HDMI cable.  I know they made a set available in Japan awhile back, but I haven't heard anything about it in months and kinda assumed it was a test run that didn't pan out.

It's exclusive to their online store in Japan, that's probably why a lot of people forgot about it. Still, there is increasing interest in owning more than one Switch. And with Nintendo saying they want to sell a Switch to each person, it makes sense to have an entry level bundle that encourages that. 



S.Peelman on 17 November 2018

It costs them no effort at all to keep it around, so it could potentially stay around for years still. I wouldn't be very surprised if it reaches it's 10th year.



Wman1996 on 19 November 2018

They will sell it until 2022? I don't even think the Nintendo DS was on the market that long (and it sold over 150 million units). I understand Switch has no backwards compatibility, but I think Nintendo should discontinue 3DS hardware in 2019 or 2020. Most online services could cease by 2022 or 2023.



Lifetime Sales Predictions 

Switch: 151 million (was 73, then 96, then 113 million, then 125 million, then 144 million)

PS5: 115 million (was 105 million) Xbox Series S/X: 57 million (was 60 million, then 67 million)

PS4: 120 mil (was 100 then 130 million, then 122 million) Xbox One: 51 mil (was 50 then 55 mil)

3DS: 75.5 mil (was 73, then 77 million)

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