Nintendo Switch Reportedly 'Barely' Halfway Through Its Life Cycle

The Nintendo Switch is apparently "barely in the middle" of its life cycle, according to reports from Nintendo's latest investor Q&A. That fact was reported by investment advisor David Gibson, who attended the Q&A following Nintendo's latest earnings report and explained that Nintendo representatives had said it was, "Barely in the middle of the switch cycle, no change to that view." The Nintendo Switch is just over three years old, which would put the expected end of its life cycle at around 2023 at least. That thinking matches up with Nintendo's other recent successes - Nintendo Wii was released in 2006 and followed by Wii U in 2012, while Nintendo DS was released in 2004, with 3DS coming 7 years later in 2011. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/30/e3-nintendo-direct-in-june-reportedly-delayed"] This doesn't necessarily discount an upgraded model of Switch arriving during that time - several Nintendo consoles have seen updates during their life cycle, and we've already seen Switch Lite - but we know that there are no plans for a rumoured Switch Pro model in 2020. This news isn't a huge surprise - Switch and its software continues to sell well, with April seeing new records broken for hardware sales, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons selling over 11 million copies in 11 days. It's been enough for EA - which once said its players don't want games on Switch - to announce that it will release multiple games for the console this year. In January, Nintendo explained: "we believe it is important to continue to communicate the appeal of both Nintendo Switch systems and expand the installed base." [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter.