Nintendo Switch Still At The 'Midpoint' Of Its Life Cycle--Shuntaro Furukawa

The Nintendo Switch is right at the midpoint of its life cycle, and it can still grow within the foreseeable future.

This was the sentiment of Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa, who made the statement in a Q&A session featuring the gaming industry giant's upper management, reports WCCFTech. He made a claim when he was asked about their "next game system," to which he said they could not comment on at this time.

Here is Furukawa's statement in full:

"We are not able to comment about the next game system at this time. 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. With regards to the next game system, we are considering many different things, but as far as the concept and launch timing are concerned, there is nothing we can share at this time."

These sentiments from the Nintendo big boss echo the same statements made by Doug Bowser, the president of Nintendo of America, back in 2020. According to VG247, he was also asked about the possibility of an upgraded Switch model coming to retail, to which he gave this answer.

Back then, Bowser also hinted at the possibility of an upgraded Switch in the works, which likely resulted in the release of the Nintendo Switch OLED last year-even if not a lot of fans thought much of it.

What's In The Immediate Future For The Nintendo Switch?

What Furukawa meant was simple: if you're expecting something like a Nintendo Switch Pro soon, you likely won't get it.

Not a lot of people remember that the Switch is still technically quite new, as it only launched back in 2017. In tech terms, this is still quite young, as other game consoles generally have 7-9-year life spans-handheld or otherwise.

As such, there remains a bigger catalog of content and potential upgrades for the best-selling gaming handheld, even if there are a lot of competitors already popping up. It is up to you, however, whether you'd consider the Nintendo Switch OLED as an upgrade or still wait for the release of a Switch Pro or a Switch 2. But that doesn't mean rumors still aren't floating around.

Tom's Guide recently published an article that details rumors about a Switch 2. According to an unnamed tipster, there are already development kits distributed and being used for a Switch 2, which is pegged for a release in late 2022 or early 2023. They're also claiming that the dev kits are intended for a handheld with 4K support.

Furthermore, it is said that developers have already gotten their dev kits way back in 2020.

However, Nintendo was quick to comment on the rumor with a tweet, saying that it is simply not true.

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by RJ Pierce