Last year, reports of new Switch models spread like wildfire. According to those reports, Nintendo was working on a high-end Switch Pro and a more affordable mini Switch. The latter of those two models was eventually confirmed by Nintendo, and launched as the Switch Lite in September, but the Switch Pro never materialized.
We still don’t know when or if another Switch model will launch (though the trend for every major company has been to release multiple models over the lifespan of a console), but on Monday, Taiwanese newspaper DigiTimes reported that Nintendo is currently working on a new Switch model slated to launch in mid-2020. Supply chain sources claim that mass production of the unannounced model will begin at the end of the first quarter.
Tech reporter Takashi Mochizuki of The Wall Street Journal reported last August that “Nintendo has ideas for further updates to the Switch lineup” following the launch of the upgraded Switch with better battery life and the Switch Lite, which came out in August and September, respectively. Considering that Mochizuki was right about the other two models, the fact that he’s signal-boosting this report certainly adds some weight to it:
I reported in Aug 2019: "Nintendo has ideas for further updates to the Switch lineup after those two models to make the platform’s lifecycle long"
DigiTimes on Jan 6: "Nintendo is reportedly planning to release in mid-2020 a new model of Switch"https://t.co/giypufcW4A
— Takashi Mochizuki (@6d6f636869) January 6, 2020
Unsurprisingly, a Nintendo of America spokesperson told Polygon that the company “has nothing to announce on this topic,” but releasing a new Switch model this year clearly makes sense. After all, Sony and Microsoft have confirmed that their next-gen consoles — the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X — are launching this holiday season, and Nintendo will want some fresh new hardware to advertise when those consoles arrive.
