Nintendo Switch 2 is still weeks from launch, and yet a key electronics partner is already thinking about the console’s inevitable future hardware refresh.
That’s according to a new report from Bloomberg, which states that Samsung is pushing Nintendo to incororate its OLED screens in the next version of Switch 2, whenever it appears.
Remember, of course, that the launch version of Switch 2 features an LCD screen — which some see as a slight downgrade from the display boasted by the Switch 1’s later OLED model.
At a Switch 2 press event attended by IGN earlier this year, Nintendo said it had not made the decision to effectively switch back from OLED to LCD screens lightly.
“Now there’s a lot of advancements that have been made in LCD technology during development,” Nintendo Switch 2 hardware design lead Tetsuya Sasaki explained. “We took a look at the technology that was available to us now and after a lot of consideration we decided to stick to LCD.
“Even with the OLED version of Nintendo Switch, we didn’t have compatibility support for HDR, but that’s something we have the support for now.”
In some respects, word of a Switch 2 refresh at some point in the future shouldn’t be a surprise. Nintendo always launches new versions of its consoles after a couple of years (well, usually — sorry, Wii U).
The suggestion of an improved Switch 2 refresh with an OLED screen would also simply be following the same pattern Nintendo used with Switch 1.
But maybe don’t cancel your Switch 2 pre-order just yet. There’s no telling when Nintendo will actually decide to launch a new Switch 2 model — especially now, as demand for the launch version looks likely to remain sky high for a signficant period, and affordability of every console now a key issue.
Nintendo will only launch a new Switch 2 when it will be confident it can manufacture, ship and sell it at a price it believes customers will buy, and be happy to pay to upgrade from the base Switch 2 model. Remember, also, that the Switch 1’s OLED model didn’t turn up until October 2021, four years after the console’s March 2017 debut.
In other words, while Samsung may be planning for Switch 2 OLED, you probably need not be.
Elsewhere in Bloomberg’s report, Samsung sources stated they believed the company had the capacity for Nintendo to ship 20 million Switch 2 consoles this year — considerably more than the 15 million estimate that Nintendo has told investors it expects to shift before March 31, 2026.
That 15 million estimate would match the same number of Switch 1 consoles sold by Nintendo back in 2017, and has also been seen as a conservative figure by some analysts. Speaking to IGN sister site Eurogamer earlier this month, veteran firm DFC Intelligence said it believed Nintendo would in reality likely sell 16m, enough to say it had beaten its expectations.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
