Sources: Nintendo plans to release a new version of Switch in the latter half of 2019, perhaps as soon as summer
Updated console isn't expected to adopt the OLED panels used in Apple's iPhone X series — TOKYO— Nintendo Co. NTDOY -1.78% plans to release a new version …
Context & Ripple Effects
Nintendo had just committed to a heavy production ramp — 25M to 30M Switch units planned for the fiscal year beginning April 2018 — when the Wall Street Journal reported the company was already preparing a hardware revision for the latter half of 2019, possibly as soon as summer. Notably, sources said the update would not adopt the OLED panels used in Apple's iPhone X series, signaling a cost-conscious refresh rather than a premium pivot.
That framing proved prescient: subsequent reporting described two new Switch consoles — one high-end, one cheaper and portability-focused — before the cycle settled into a 2021 model with a 7-inch Samsung OLED display and 4K output when docked. This 2018 report is the first data point in what became a multi-year cadence of mid-generation Switch revisions.
First-order effects
- Switch buyers face a classic mid-cycle timing decision: anyone purchasing the current model in 2018-2019 risks seeing it superseded within months, while Nintendo gains a fresher SKU to sustain momentum without launching a full successor.
- Game developers get a second hardware configuration inside the same generation, forcing them to target a spec range rather than a single fixed Switch profile.
Second-order effects
- Explicitly ruling out iPhone X-class OLED panels keeps the bill of materials at mass-market levels — preserving the Switch's price position against any premium-tier variant, which later reporting on a separate high-end model suggests Nintendo was already weighing.
- Display and component suppliers compete for the revised console's panel contract, a contest the 2021 reporting eventually resolved in Samsung's favor.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, Nintendo's console business shifts from discrete generations toward smartphone-style iterative refreshes and tiered SKUs — extending each platform's revenue life and softening the traditional generational cliff.
- A recurring refresh cadence also gives retailers and accessory makers a near-annual demand event for a platform whose installed base Nintendo was simultaneously scaling toward tens of millions of units.
The trend: Console hardware is moving away from monolithic generations toward mid-cycle refreshes and tiered models, with Nintendo's Switch revision pipeline as the clearest example.