Nintendo has always kept to its own schedule, and that seems to be true for a potential Nintendo Switch Pro console as well. The company has never officially indicated that it is developing what it calls the next generation of Nintendo's hit hybrid platform, including the Switch Pro, Switch 2, and Super Switch.

Still, it was inevitable that there would be fan and industry speculation about what the Switch's successor would look like and how soon it would be available. But Nintendo finally stepped in to make it clear that if you're waiting for the Switch Pro, you'll have to keep waiting.

The latest information comes from Bloomberg, which covered Nintendo's quarterly earnings call. The big takeaway is that Nintendo's quarter was incredibly profitable, largely due to Switch sales. (This will come as no shock to anyone who tried to buy a Switch during the holiday season and found it as hard to get as a PS5 or Xbox Series X.) One participant asked if Nintendo had any plans to release a new Switch model, to which the company basically said, "Not anytime soon."

In the absence of accurate minutes (and even if there were, there would be language barriers), it is difficult to say exactly what Nintendo's timeline is for a new console. Still, if Nintendo had plans to release a new system in the near future, a more straightforward answer might have been given. If Nintendo says that the Switch Pro will not be released anytime soon, then that probably means that the Switch Pro will not be released anytime soon.

But this is not surprising. Nintendo has long stated that the Switch is only halfway through its lifecycle. The company has never indicated that there are plans for a successor to the Switch or an updated version of the console like the PS4 Pro or Xbox One X. Fans and analysts have speculated under their breath about what the Switch Pro will look like, but most of this is just wishful thinking and patent-based estimates.

As for when a Switch upgrade, or even an entirely new console, it's hard to say. At the very least, it seems unlikely that Nintendo will release new hardware in 2021. The question remains, however, what will they release instead? The Legend of Zelda's 35th anniversary takes place later this month, so Big N may have Zelda-related plans for later this year. But other than that, there seems to be fairly few first-party games on the horizon, aside from a Switch port of "Super Mario 3D World" and a new expansion called "Bowser's Wrath."