Nintendo: No Switch 2 before April 2025

09.05.2024 - 13:19 / gamesindustry.biz / Shuntaro Furukawa / Nintendo

Nintendo has suggested that the successor to the Switch will not arrive before March 31, 2025, indicating an April release at the very earliest.

In the Q&A transcript of this week's earnings call — translated by GamesIndustry.biz — Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa told investors: "The sales forecasts for this period do not include sales of the Nintendo Switch successor device."

Earlier this week, Nintendo's full-year financials predicted a 20% drop in net sales for the twelve months ended March 31, 2025 and hardware sales of 13.5 million units; it is this number that Furukawa says only applies to the current Switch models.

He later said that Nintendo "[hasn't] yet discussed launch timing" for the company's next console, but its absence from sales forecasts suggests it is not expecting the device to be made available during this fiscal year.

The platform holder said this week that it will announce Nintendo Switch's successor "within this fiscal year" but warned that it will not be mentioned in June's Nintendo Direct.

The acknowledgement that it is not talking about timing for the new device came when asked about Nintendo's plans to meet demand for Switch 2 and prevent scalping, as well as concerns over component shortages.

"As for supply of the Nintendo Switch successor console... at this point we are not seeing semiconductor supply issues like the ones that were happening until the year before last, and we do not anticipate that semiconductor supply will present a major problem for the launch of the console," Furukawa said.

Elsewhere in the call, the Nintendo president confirmed the next model will continue to use the Nintendo Account system employed by the current Switch and Nintendo's mobile games, and that he expects a growing number of customers will buy digital games for the device, although he emphasised the importance of continuing to offer physical versions as well.

He recognised that Nintendo's target of 13.5 million Switch sales during the new fiscal year is "at a somewhat high level" given that the platform is currently in its eighth year, and that it "becomes harder to maintain momentum as time passes."

Nevertheless, he pointed to how Switch sales continue to be "relatively strong" and that it is important for the platform holder to both maintain the momentum for its current console and prepare for the arrival of the next.

When asked if the announcement of Switch's successor will affect sales of the current models, Furukawa said: "While we don’t believe that the announcement of a successor device and spreading information about it will have no impact on Nintendo Switch sales, we intend to maximise sales by maintaining a balance between demand from new customers and demand for additional units