Does Nintendo need to launch the Switch 2 in 2024?

[Wman1996]

bowserthedog said:

Its incredible that anyone would suggest Nintendo should not launch in 2024. They should have already launched last fall. What type of a tech company waits until they are in significant decline before releasing new hardware?  Apple? No. Sony. No? Samsung. No?  If anything Nintendo should be releasing more often. Its not like the old days when Nintendo had two seperate systems and their handheld were always selling well. Nintendo's revenue is way down in 2023 from hardware sales and that shouldn't be the case. No need for it.

What's interesting is that some of the best years in hardware (and presumably software sales) for the PS1 were later in its life. 

By March 1999, PS1 has shipped 50 million units (slightly under half of its lifetime sales). By October 2001 (a year after the NA PS2 launch and over a year and a half after the Japanese PS2 launch), PS1 had shipped 88.26 million consoles.

PS1 sold more consoles when PS2 was in the serious planning stages and once the PS2 launched than when the PS2 was barely a blip on the radar in Sony's plans.

Now, even if Switch 2 would've launched in 2023 there's little chance by percentages Switch would've pulled off such a feat like PS1. Switch has gotten closer to its saturation point than PS1 had. 

But yes, I don't see why people thought 2023 was too early for Switch 2 when hardware was declining (but still great) and software sales won't die when Switch 2 comes out. Shoot, in the likely chance Switch 2 is backwards compatible software sales will still be high.

2024 isn't too early at all, and 2026 or later is not a good idea at all.