Probably to further help increase the sales of the NEW Nintendo 3DS XL, Nintendo announces that Regular 3DS XL models will cease production soon in Japan.
The news comes out straight from Nintendo’s homepage. While the company never mentioned when are they going to stop producing it, it looks like Nintendo’s focus is now on the new 3DS variants.
In the meantime, Regular Nintendo 3DS models (like the one I have) will still be in production. Maybe it will become the budget variant in Japan similar to the 2DS elsewhere?
Source:
http://sunrisingblog.wordpress.com/2014/12/01/nintendo-3ds-xl-to-cease-production-in-japan/