Nintendo have announced to shareholders they have no intention of releasing a new Nintendo Switch model in 2020.

In their Corporate Management Policy Briefing (Nine Months Financial Results Briefing for Fiscal Year Ending March 2020), Nintendo explained they wished to continue to support the Nintendo Switch in its current form. Page 10 states:

“Regarding Nintendo Switch, we believe that it is important to continue to communicate the appeal of both Nintendo Switch systems and expand the installed base. Please note that we have no plans to launch a new Nintendo Switch model during 2020.”

This in-spite of many industry rumors of a more powerful “pro” model in the works- the polar opposite to the Nintendo Switch Lite that launched in September 2019.

Nintendo’s recent financials would seem to indicate this is a sound choice, with 52.48 million units (both Switch and Switch Lite) sold worldwide.

Then again, Nintendo may at least want to reconsider their Joy-Cons. Joy-Cons have issues with drifting–which is when the joystick remains untouched, yet input is still registered. This resulted in a class action lawsuit by Chimicles, Schwartz Kriner, & Donaldson-Smith in July 2019.

Reports suggest Nintendo even began repairing Joy-Cons for free mere days after the lawsuit became public knowledge. It became so infamous, French consumer magazine “60 millions de consommateurs” voted it the most fragile product of 2019.

The Nintendo Switch Lite was later added to the lawsuit, and the hardware failure causing the drift was exposed. Considering the Joy-Cons are built into the Switch Lite version, what the future holds for that, and the Joy-Cons in general, remains to be seen.

In other news, the Corporate Management Policy Briefing also discussed the recently announced the Animal Crossing: New Horizons themed Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch Lite consoles.