We were told by someone in a position to know that something new is being introduced for next season and that it isn't Lego-based but is of comparable price or less. The announcement was said to be imminent, but that was already 6-7 weeks ago.
I don't find it too surprising, since NXTs are at end of life ( no more will be produced after 2015:
https://education.lego.com/en-us/les...v3/nxt-vs-ev3).