According to a report in the Taiwanese newspaper Economic Daily News (spotted and translated by VGC), the next Nintendo Switch model could be going into production later this year.
Citing “various hardware manufacturers responsible for the Switch’s Flash storage, Joy-Con controllers, and more,” the paper claims that a third Switch model will enter production soon and launch sometime in the first quarter of 2021.
Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, there was talk of not one but two new Switch models planned for release in 2019 — one of which turned out to be the “casual” Switch Lite version. A second, more “enhanced” model has yet to be officially revealed, but it seems like an inevitability.
In January, Dr. Serkan Toto, a Tokyo-based games consultant, told GamesIndustry.biz, “There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Nintendo will launch a ‘Switch Pro’ in 2020 — my guess is at $399.
“More specifically,” he added, “I predict 4K support, bigger cartridge sizes, and of course beefed-up components. I also think the device will launch after the summer holidays to counter the roll-out of the PS5 and next-gen Xbox later in the year — along with a first-party, system-seller game.”
We already know that a sequel to Breath of the Wild — the game that essentially made the Switch such a phenomenon back in 2017 — is in development.
Earlier this month, former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime took to Twitter to congratulate the company on the Switch’s sales to date, saying: “At this point, Nintendo Switch has likely passed the venerable NES to become the second-best-selling console in Nintendo’s history. Well done.”