Again take this with a grain of salt.
The following blog has a report/dialog between a customer, store owner, and a Bandai staff member during a Bakuseed (miniature electric motor car) tournament. That, of course, makes this report hearsay but still of interest as far as possible commentary on the state of Gundam at the moment goes:
The Bandai staff member commented that currently DESTINY as a series is unpopular with ratings on a downward trend (see below for that) and merchandise not selling well including Gunpla (something also mentioned at Plamoya-san's Useless Diary). The store owner adds that Bakuseed is outselling Gunpla at his store. The conversation switches to a possible sequel after the customer said "I guess no sequel then. Wanted to see one." The Bandai staff replied that they are currently exploring the idea of another SEED sequel which will again feature Kira and Athrun, concluding a SEED trilogy. The ending of DESTINY will be made so a possibility of sequel can occur. If it were to happen, they won't be doing it until after next year as time slots are all filled up for the 2006-2007 lineup. It is currently set as a trilogy, however more sequels will be made if proven popular.
Ratings are down compared to the first SEED (averaging 5.2% currently), though still better than the 90's Gundams on average. But from another perspective, things look worse when you compare it to the numbers for past MBS shows in the same timeslot (righthand column figures) as DESTINY will have to fight uphill to not wind up with the lowest average ratings.
ad: 5 afleveringen AA/Eternal VS. Zaft doen me toch een paar zaken afvragen.
Jammer genoeg zijn er wederom geen beelden van Yzak zijn vriendinnetje 