Nintendo Reiterates Switch 'is at the Mid-Point of its Lifecycle' - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 09 November 2021 / 2,249 Views
Nintendo released the Switch a little over four and a half years ago in March 2017. Nintendo president president Shuntaro Furukawa in a recent Q&A was asked about the next-generation hardware from Nintendo and he was not willing to discuss the next system.
He did mention the Switch is at the mid-point of its lifecycle and its sell-through has surpassed 90 million units. The OLED Model he says has added to the momentum of the Switch.
"We are not able to comment about the next game system at this time," Furukawa said. "It is now the fifth year since the launch of Nintendo Switch, and the total hardware sell-through has exceeded 90 million units.
"We recognize that the system is at the mid-point of its lifecycle. The launch of Nintendo Switch – OLED Model has also been contributing to continued sales momentum and we are now offering consumers three Nintendo Switch models to match their play styles and lifestyles, as well as a wide range of software.
"With this, we believe a foundation for growth has been laid that exceeds what we previously considered to be a conventional hardware lifecycle."
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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Switch does have a long life ahead of it, so it would seem. And just because the Switch 2 will release eventually doesn't guarantee the Switch will be dropped right away.
It wouldn't be unprecedented, and this is what I expected with the Switch for a long time. Although I was wrong on when they would release an updated Switch 2.
Most hardware producers continue supporting old hardware when newer hardware is out, the console industry is unique in that it usually doesn't happen that way. BUT, there are exceptions among consoles: SMS and NES lasted most of the way into the 16-bit generation, and PS2's effective lifespan went 9-10 years (around 13 in total), about 1/3rd of that after the PS3 launched. Even GBA was selling strongly for about 2 years into the DS lifespan - stronger than the DS throughout DS's first year. And Nintendo was experimenting with the 3DS just recently, and saw that sales could even grow year over year very late into the console's lifespan.
but based on nintendo recent history, wii u, wii, gamecube all had rather short lifespans esp after sucessor model released, look how many nintendo first party on their 6th year on release, virtually next to zero.
My Guess is 2025 the new console would be out
The way I read that makes it sound like the Switch could have an 8-10 year cycle. So not only am I wrong, I'm wrong by a lot. I guess the dlss device really is a Pro rather than Switch 2?
It's mid-life cycle but that in no way means that it is at the middle point of its lifespan. its just too early to be contrete about new platforms it is their current focus.
I love how so many people here are more certain about the Switches future than Nintendo themselves
I don't expect a Switch 2 for at least another 3-4 years, but at the same time I'm disappointed by that, because I've already run out of games I would like to play on the device, as well as being fed up with the Joycon drift issues.
nintendo has a 6 year product life for majority of their products, we are already on 3rd literation update of switch, same with 3ds, ds, gameboy advance, so on, within 2 years after 3rd update, next generation, which means sucessor switch 2 should be released by 2023
