The Nintendo Switch has turned five years old and continues to dominate the console market despite enduring a pandemic and semiconductor shortage. But the question of whether Nintendo plans to introduce more powerful hardware (upgraded model/Switch Pro or successor) this year or later is mounting. As it turns out, some analysts believe it will indeed be a next-gen console and introduced much later than expected.
Switch remains top dog
During an annual panel held by GameIndustry.biz, Ampere analyst Piers Harding-Rolls shared some of his predictions on Nintendo’s hardware for 2022 and beyond.
These include Switch sales numbers, the possibility of a new console in 2024, and the impossibility of another Switch revision i.e. the Switch Pro.
According to his predictions, Nintendo will maintain its lead in the console market this year with its Switch family of devices mostly thanks to the Switch OLED model that was released last year. However, the current year could become “quite flat” due to declining sales. The analyst thinks that Nintendo will be able to churn up at least 21 million more sales during the year.
No Switch Pro
Now for some bad news. Harding-Rolls isn’t predicting the eventual inclusion of a Switch Pro model to the family of devices. Instead, consumers will have to wait for either a next-gen successor to arrive sometime in 2024.
“I'm not expecting a Switch Pro in 2022,” he added. “We have a next-gen Nintendo console in our forecasts for late 2024, so I'm not convinced a 'Pro' model is going to appear at all.”
The Switch analyst pro
Not many might know of Piers Harding-Rolls, a longtime analyst of Ampere Analysis, a London-based market research firm. But he is actually popular for having a proven track record in predicting key decisions made by several game companies, especially Nintendo.
Last year, he made a couple of accurate predictions concerning the Switch that included an updated model (Switch OLED) and that the Switch in general would become the best-selling console in 2021. So far, it seems Harding-Rolls’ predictions will be confirmed moving forward.
Nintendo doesn’t necessarily need a new Switch anytime soon even if sales were to flat out this year and the next.
Currently, Switch sales are closing in on another milestone whereas it could outperform the Wii in global sales. That console had sold roughly 102 million units worldwide, making it the fourth best-selling console in history. There are also some highly anticipated new titles coming later this year to consider. These include "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" sequel, "Bayonetta 3," "Pokemon legends: Arceus," and many more. Hence, 2022 is looking stellar for Nintendo and its Switch family of devices.
