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Rumor: Nintendo Releasing A New Switch Model In Second Half Of 2019
A new Switch model might be on the way according to a report by Wall Street Journal, stating that Nintendo is preparing another model of their hybrid console in the later half of 2019.
According to WSJ, Nintendo feels that Switch sales are liable to lose momentum by next Fall, which would be roughly 2.5 years after the console's release. To maintain that competitive momentum, the company is planning a revision to the console that could feature a number of improvements that are still being discussed. One of those improvements they believe is being considered is a better LCD screen to bring it more in line modern smartphone technology, though they clarify this does not suggest OLED technology as seen in Apple's iPhone X.
Other presumed improvements include making the device smaller, thinner, and more efficient on the battery, though presumably the size would be limited by the size of the detachable mix-and-match joycons. Sources close to Game Informer have suggested the existence of a new revision of the Switch stretching back to March of this year.
A revision would put the Switch in line with previous handhelds. The Nintendo DS begat the DS Lite slightly over a year after the original's launch. The 3DS held on slightly longer with the 3DS XL roughly 18 months after, the Nintendo 2DS two and a half years after the launch unit, and the new Nintendo 3DS a year after that. The Wall Street Journal article believes a new model of Switch would arrive in the Fall, but could arrive as early as Summer.
Earlier this year, former Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima set Nintendo's Switch target to 20 million within the financial year ending on March 31 2019. Judging by what Nintendo's target numbers are for the 2020 financial year, which runs from the beginning of April 2019 until the following March 31, we might be able to tell whether Nintendo is planning a revision for the console.
Regardless, they have also sometimes not announced revisions until weeks before release, so it could be some time until we have official word, if we do at all.
[Source: Wall Street Journal]
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