The Switch Isn’t the Only Thing Going Mobile
The United State’s ongoing trade war with China affects tons of people, including gamers. China is like, the hub of everything that gets made. The proposed 25% tariff on Chinese products coming into the United States threatens many electronics producers. Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony all have consoles being made in China, so what does Nintendo do? According to Wall Street Journal, they are moving production out of China and into another Southeast Asian country. WSJ also says that a new Nintendo Switch model might be being worked on there as well.
The money in the gaming industry usually comes from the software like games, and the services like Xbox Live or PlayStation Plus. Even though consoles are the more expensive gaming necessities, are often sold at a minimal profit margin or at a loss, getting money back on software. Still, 25% tariffs would certainly jack up prices and customers would probably become more conservative with their money. And Nintendo doesn’t want that at all. Simply moving production of the Switch to Taiwan or somewhere would help get around those tariffs, but Nintendo might also have new plans for production.
The WSJ report talks about two new Switch models. One of them is a slightly enhanced version of the current model. It has pretty much the same design with better components, likely to improve performance, processing speed, memory, or battery life. The second is more like a Switch Lite. This model will be a less expensive version, removing some non-essential features like controller vibration. Apparently, this will be used primarily as a handheld device, but can still be docked as a normal Switch would. These are mostly rumors, but we will have to wait and see what Nintendo has in store for us.
Do you like the sound of these new Switch models?
Source: Wall Street Journal and GameSpot