Nintendo has denied reports of another planned Switch revision, as well as reports claiming wide profit margins for the Switch OLED model.
Earlier today on July 19, the Nintendo Corporate Twitter account issued the statement below. The statement, directed at both the company's audience and their investors, denies that the Switch OLED will have an increased profit margin over the original Nintendo Switch, and also denies that another Nintendo Switch revision is being planned.
We also want to clarify that we just announced that Nintendo Switch(OLED Model) will launch in October, 2021, and have no plans for launching any other model at this time. (2/2)July 19, 2021
It's highly out of the ordinary for Nintendo to comment on speculative and unconfirmed reports. Ordinarily, the company would either ignore a request for comment, or simply respond with a "no comment." It's really interesting, therefore, that the company has been moved to issue a denial today, although as the tweet above suggests, this may have something to do with wanting to reassure their investors that the reports of increased profit margins aren't true.
Last week, a report claimed that although Nintendo was charging $50 more for the Nintendo Switch OLED model over the original Switch, it would cost only $10 more to manufacture. This is the original report that the company has today denied through the statement above.
Additionally, there have been rumors circulating that Nintendo has another Switch revision planned. One analyst, speaking in a report published last week, speculated that the ongoing global chip shortage could have pushed Nintendo to produce the Switch OLED model, holding off on the full 4K-capable Switch model until next year, or potentially even later.
Previously, when the Nintendo Switch OLED model had been dubbed the "Nintendo Switch Pro" by the internet at large, numerous reports claimed that Nintendo was readying the device to be capable of outputting 4K visuals using upscaling techniques. When the Nintendo Switch OLED model was revealed earlier this month therefore, many thought it was odd that this claimed feature was lacking from the final design, leading to the speculation that an additional model would be arriving next year.
But now those hopes may have been entirely dashed by this recent statement from Nintendo. Although it is standard PR to deny reports and claims like this, it is unusual for Nintendo to issue a denial like this, as the company could've quite easily sat back and avoided commenting, like they largely did while reports of the Nintendo Switch Pro were circulating earlier this year. For now though, we'll just have to wait and see what Nintendo has planned for next year and beyond.
If you're looking to reserve your unit before it launches later this year in October, head over to our Nintendo Switch OLED pre-orders guide for more.
