Nintendo Contract Manufacturer’s Spend Surge Suggests Switch 2 Release Timeframe

Whatever it ends up being called in actuality, the "Switch 2" is definitely real and definitely on the way. We know that because Nintendo itself has tacitly confirmed that it is working on such a thing by saying that it won't be releasing this fiscal year, which ends in March 2025 for Nintendo. We might hear something about it pretty soon, though—and maybe this month, if analysts have it right.


Senior Analyst at MST Financial David Gibson pointed to large expenditures from Japanese electronics company Hosiden as an indicator of the launch window for Nintendo's follow-up to the third-most successful video game console of all time. According to Gibson, in its next fiscal year Hosiden is spending upwards of two billion yen on production equipment, and a further 1 billion yen on automation, specifically for "its major customer in amusement (Nintendo)."

If accurate, those kinds of expenditures certainly sound like the manufacturer is gearing up to support the launch of a major new consumer product, which is exactly what the Switch 2 could be. Nintendo's hardware has been hit or miss in terms of popularity; the Nintendo 64 and the Wii U were both pretty poor performers financially, while the Nintendo Wii and the Switch have both been massive successes.


So if the system is launching in March or April of next year, then we may just hear something about it soon. That conjecture is based on the timing of the reveal and successive launch of the original Switch, which was originally announced on October 20th 2016 and then launched on March 3rd 2017. The aforementioned analyst David Gibson thinks that Nintendo will announce the machine within the next two weeks or in early October to avoid the Tokyo Game Show news cycle; we would imagine the news would come before so vendors can show off their Switch 2 games at the expo, but we don't work for Nintendo marketing.

Some people are dubious on the idea of a "Switch 2" given that history, but there have been considerable technological advances in microprocessors, screens, and batteries since the launch of the original Switch; a new machine that simply plays Switch games with improved performance and battery life would sell millions of units on its own. Leaker NatetheHate confirmed last week that the new machine is backwards compatible to some degree, so it's difficult to imagine the Switch successor being anything but a smash hit.