Nintendo Says Switch OLED Profit Story Is ‘Incorrect’

Last week, a pair of analysts cited in a report from Bloomberg claimed that Nintendo’s new OLED model of the Switch contained “upgrades [that] are estimated to cost around $10 more per unit,” despite the console costing $50 more at the register than its predecessor. Today, Nintendo took the unusual step of publicly refuting those claims.

Nintendo is traditionally pretty quiet when it comes to the rumour business, preferring to let its announcements do the talking. When asked directly (like we’re about to get to) they mostly defer to the ol’ “we have no comment/plans” response. Here, though, the company’s corporate Twitter account felt moved to issue a direct statement, saying Bloomberg’s claims—based on the input of a couple of industry analysts—were “incorrect.”

A news report on July 15, 2021(JST) claimed that the profit margin of the Nintendo Switch (OLED Model) would increase compared to the Nintendo Switch. To ensure correct understanding among our investors and customers, we want to make clear that the claim is incorrect.

Like I said, that’s pretty unusual! Take, for instance, the original 2019 rumours of new Switch hardware, when Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said:

While we are aware there has been coverage to that effect, we cannot comment in regards to speculation and rumors about new hardware or software. It would spoil the surprise for consumers and is against the interests of our shareholders, so we are withholding any discussion.

Yet here, in the interests of “investors and customers” (as opposed to the “consumers and shareholders” of the 2019 statement), the company wants to “ensure correct understanding,” and directly address the reports, even though they’re not saying how much the console actually does cost to be able to prove it.

In a follow-up Tweet, Nintendo then moves on to broadly address the persistent rumour of a “Switch Pro” model, saying:

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.

“No plans” are two of the most meaningless words in the video game industry, so often are they employed (then later shown to have been misleading or even straight up false), but they do at least suggest that if a Switch Pro model is coming, it’s not coming anytime soon. Which, again, is refuting a different Bloomberg report, albeit less directly