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Something that I think should be mentioned here is that even at the height of anime's popularity in the west, there were still plenty of anime shows made primarily for the hardcore anime fandom in Japan. In fact, it's highly doubtful that there were ever any more than a handful of anime shows that were made primarily with western audiences in mind.
The anime industry puts out more than 100 shows a year. Even if it does go mainstream, I really doubt you'd see the whole of anime change drastically to suit the tastes of the mainstream. You'd see some change, but probably only amongst a small corner of the industry (percentage-wise). So I do think that fears over what anime going mainstream might do to it are a bit overstated.
That being said, the benefits of going mainstream can also be overstated. Yes, it's nice to be able to talk a bit more about your hobbies with others that share them, but it's not something I'd attach massive weight to.
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