Plausible Nintendo Switch 2 release date period alluded to in Foxconn financial news report

There have been a plethora of leaks and rumors about the next-generation Switch as of late, but whereas those details were spawned from some of the less salubrious parts of the Internet, this new snippet comes from a financial site with some credibility. A report about Foxconn from the Chinese-language MoneyDJ, which offers news about investments, the Hong Kong and Taiwan Stock Exchanges, and the tech industry, suggests that the Nintendo Switch 2 release date will be in the first quarter of 2024. The relevant text (machine translated) reads:

In addition, although the overall momentum of game machines this year is mediocre, with the traditional peak season coming in the second half of the year, game machine shipments are expected to increase compared to the first half of the year, and Nintendo plans to launch the Switch in Q1 next year.

The report discusses the outlook for Hongzhun Industry, which is a subisidiary of Hon Hai Technology Group, better known to the international market as Foxconn. If any company outside of Nintendo is going to be aware of a Switch 2 launch schedule, it would be Foxconn, but of course this statement is possibly conjecture coming from the MoneyDJ reporter. The implication here is that a Nintendo Switch 2 console will be released between January and March 2024, unless the writer refers to either Foxconn’s financial Q1 or Nintendo’s financial Q1, which for the latter would start in April 2024.

Should Nintendo be preparing a Switch 2 launch for a release date in Q1 2024, then there is a chance an official announcement could be made in the final quarter of 2023. In regard to the original Switch console, there was an official announcement made in October 2016 with technical information shared in January 2017 before the main launch event in March 2017. Nintendo could follow a similar plan for the NG Switch/Switch 2 without having to be too concerned about destroying OG Switch sales over the holiday period, as discounts, bundles, new games, and the excitement generated about the brand after a Switch 2 announcement should help shift remaining stock.

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