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RolStoppable said:
curl-6 said:

"Support" doesn't necessarily mean "not replace" though; 3DS has replaced after 6 years but still got support in 2017 and 2018 after the release of the Switch.

The statement was in the context of replacement and has been repeated in a Q&A session with investors. Nintendo must have realized how foolish it was to cut the lifecycles of the DS and Wii short.

Beyond that, the launch dates that get commonly thrown around for the Switch successor don't make sense for two other reasons:

1. Switch is much more successful than the 3DS, and the 3DS had a full six years before it got replaced.

2. Console manufacturers target the holiday season for launch dates because it results in two strong months out of the gate instead of only one followed by  a steep dropoff.

That's why spring 2023, 2022 as a whole and the utterly ridiculous 2021 are too early. Holidays 2023 onwards is much more sensible for the launch date of the Switch successor. The only argument that is ever made for those early launches is processing power, but anyone who thinks a minute or two about the importance of processing power (or rather the lack thereof) should realize how wrong that line of thinking is.

2021 is indeed ridiculous but I don't think a spring 2023 release is out of the question, Switch released in March and had a strong launch.