Rumor: Cheaper Nintendo Switch model to release in June
A product that has not been confirmed by Nintendo has even more rumors today. Bloomberg reports that a new cheaper Switch will release this summer.
Nintendo Switch continues its march to world domination, but that hasn't stopped rumors about new versions of the handheld hybrid console device. The latest report comes from multiple anonymous sources who claim that Nintendo will release a cheaper version of the Switch in June. That would line up with E3 2019 as well as the tentative Super Mario Maker 2 release date.
The Bloomberg report claims two people familiar with the matter believe that a cheaper Switch model is to be expected in the next year. One source claimed that the smaller, cheaper Switch will likely release in June with a modest upgrade coming to the regular system by the end of the year. These sources also told Bloomberg that a new more powerful Nintendo Switch is not currently being developed. They requested to remain anonymous, but there are definitely murmurs of new Nintendo hardware swirling around financial analyst circles. Many of them are jockeying to figure out just how many Switch consoles were sold in Nintendo's last fiscal year.
The low estimate on Wall Street is for Nintendo to only have sold 15.5 million Switch consoles in the full year ending March 31, 2019. The highest estimate is at 18.3 million units. More intriguing is the disparity in fiscal 2020 Switch sales expectations, which range from 16 million to 22 million units. A lower price model could definitely throw these numbers out of whack as demand for a $200 Switch would likely be a lot higher than the current $300 version. Nintendo slashed their full year Switch sales guidance earlier this year to 17 million units which is still below consensus estimates.
It will be interesting to hear what the Big N has to say when they report earnings results later this week. The stock already jumped on the news of a deal with Tencent, and recent NPD data points to a very strong first quarter for the Nintendo Switch. We hope these rumors are true, and fans will be able to get a Switch in their hands for even less money as soon as this summer.
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replyAsif Khan posted a new article, Rumor: Cheaper Nintendo Switch model to release in June
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I could see it launching alongside the PS5 in 2020.
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As I've mentioned elsewhere, hacked existing Switch hardware has apparently had the max clock speed doubled with little effect on battery life. I think a die shrink might take care of any heat issues.
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Screen might as well be 1440p since most games use dynamic res anyway. Games that output a locked 720 would look the same as long as they used integer scale in those cases
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NPD numbers for March: https://twitter.com/BenjiSales/status/1120809712725917698
- Switch is number 1 hardware 4 months in a row
- Switch is up a massive double digit % YoY For Q1
- Switch has the best Q1 of this entire generation (higher than PS4 peak or X1)-
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Neither did the analysts, because for some reason a holiday season with Smash and Pokemon (plus a terrific backlog) was supposed to be underwhelming.
Smash sold 12M units in its first month and its season pass going live brought the eShop down for the first time. Not even Fortnite's or Odyssey's launches managed that.
I think the Switch Mini + Pokemon Sword/Shield is going to blow away anything we've seen from Nintendo or Sony.
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This year and next year are going to be probably the fastest selling of the Switch's entire lifecycle, as is normally the case with consoles.
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I’d just like to see cheaper games. I’d love to use it more. It I don’t want to pay £20+ for remakes of games I’ve finished several times before and most first party or unique games also cost more than that.
I guess I’m in a weird headspace about this particular console. -
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If they have built in joy cons, they could adjust the size of them to whatever they want.
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You can always buy regular joycons and sync them to the unit. Its just whats packed in to reduced costs. I have no real idea just guessing.
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I think the reason they did that in Mario Party is because they figured nobody wanted to play it in handheld mode by themselves. So by the same token it's not a huge deal if the handheld product doesn't support it, though maybe they could patch it with some quick and dirty support so parents don't get ripped off.
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Nah, build in the joycons and allow pairing of other joycon, that way if you want to play those games you need to buy another set, which they want you to do anyways, that plus removing the dock and possibly a die shrink of the parts should get you $100 in savings. They can't not include a power adapter but it wouldn't be the first time they did something that stupid.
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It's actually pretty customary in Japan to sell handhelds without power supplies, weirdly enough.
I agree they won't mind selling extra controllers to people who buy the portable unit, but I sincerely hope it's compatible with the current dock. A cheaper Switch for the kids when you already have the big Switch, a dock hooked up and some extra joy cons/Pro Controller/whatever, is a pretty attractive proposition for parents.-
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they will
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The existing switch has an issue even with just having the dock as the only charge option (many people buy a second ac adapter, I did), so releasing another switch without an adapter just worsens that issue X 10 since you would then have one charger for two devices and a bunch of controllers etc
Madness
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you can just buy the official one for thirty dollars...which always seemed really high to me? just for a 40W adapter.
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Speculation: Switching to cheaper parts, integrated joy cons, no doc, and better manufacturing processes to reduce costs.
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But then you lose a major selling point of the console and the ability to play Mario Party without buying additional controllers. It wouldn't affect my use case much at all, but I don't know if Nintendo would willingly take that on.
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I honestly don't think Nintendo has a problem de-emphasizing the TV docking functionality, the whole point of this new model is to slide the Switch into the handheld market position that the Game Boy/DS/3DS have traditionally occupied.
Switch hasn't fully become the successor to those systems yet likely due to price. If anything, releasing a model that people view almost exclusively as a handheld could help them make the case that anyone who had a 3DS should now get a Switch. Part of the system's appeal is console-quality games on a handheld, and Nintendo doesn't care if you never play a Switch game on a television as long as you buy the games. -
Nintendo is no stranger to altering consoles and handhelds after launch to include or exclude functionality.
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I really doubt that last part. If anything they will be smaller.
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I bet this will be targeted towards parents who want to free up their switch to give their kids a cheaper smaller switch.
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Of course not. They want you to pay for each copy.
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Nintendo on game sharing: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RkkMggVljVM/maxresdefault.jpg
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Apparently as of the online service launch, you can, similar to how the Xbox and PS4 do it:
https://www.polygon.com/2018/9/19/17878472/nintendo-switch-game-sharing-online-account
Losing access to the games if you don't have an Internet connection is kind of unfortunate for a portable system, but better than nothing.
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I heard they were partnering with Samsung to make the Switch even more bendable.
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