Could Nintendo’s Switch 2 Be Coming Soon? Foxconn Report Hints It’s On The Radar
Forget about death and taxes, the one thing you can count on is that rumors of a more powerful Switch console will persist up until when and if Nintendo finally gets around to releasing one. It might be called the Switch Pro or it could be dubbed the Switch 2. Whatever the case might be, the chatter won't stop until Nintendo releases a new generation console, which could be coming in 2024.
That's according to a translated report from MoneyDJ, a wealth management website with a pulse on news bits that might be relevant to investors. It doesn't dabble specifically in technology related reporting, but there's obviously overlap between tech trends and investment news. Such is the case with the site claiming a new Switch console is on the horizon.
The report is actually focused on Hongzhun Industry, a subsidiary of Hon Hai Technology Group. Some of you reading this are probably more familiar with the name it goes by internationally (outside of China and Taiwan), which is Foxconn. Foxconn is perhaps best known by some as the main supplier of Apple's iPhone products, but it makes a wide assortment of electronics, including Nintendo's Switch console.
"Although the overall momentum of game consoles this year is mediocre, in the second half of the year, with the advent of the traditional peak season, the purchase of game consoles is expected to increase compared with the first half of the year, and Nintendo plans to launch the Switch in Q1 next year," the site states.
It's not clear if the report is referring to a traditional Q1 calendar period or if it's based on the fiscal Q1 timeline for either Foxconn or Nintendo. Either way, the site seems to think Nintendo is planning another Switch console for next year.
We broached this same topic in May when Nintendo released its most recent earnings report. In it, Nintendo shared some interesting Switch hardware sell-through stats along with an update on how many annual playing users are on the platform. Here's a look...
Accounting for every version of the Switch (Switch, Switch Lite, and Switch OLED), units sold declined 22.1% year-on-year to 17.97 million units. Nintendo attributed part of the decline to the shortage of semiconductors and other components that came about during the global pandemic, but it also noted that it didn't see the kind of growth in sales during the holiday season that it had in past years.
Some of this is to be expected even without a shortage of parts. The Switch is several years old and has sold very well up through this point, so it's only natural for sales growth to slow down over time. What's encouraging for Nintendo, however, is the steady growth in annual playing users.
The large base of users enables Nintendo to not have to be in a rush to release a next-generation product. Yes, there have been a few revisions of the Switch, the most recent being a swap to an OLED panel. But there has not been a major hardware upgrade that would boost raw performance on the handheld platform. Nintendo's strategy, then, is to keep selling as many Switch consoles as it can while it making it more attractive by focusing on special releases (like the Zelda-themed variant) and enticing software.
"By continuing to convey the appeal of Nintendo Switch, we try to not only put one system in every home, but several in every home, or even one for every person. Another objective is to continually release new offerings so more consumers keep playing Nintendo Switch even longer and we can maximize hardware sales," Nintendo stated in May.
Of course, Nintendo will eventually have to release a new generation game console to stay relevant. One of the big questions is when will that happen, and if the aforementioned report is right on the money, we'll see a Switch 2 or Switch Pro next year.
