There is good news and bad news about the Nintendo Switch Pro. The good news is that Nintendo has confirmed its existence. The bad news is that there was only a vague warning about the successor to the Nintendo Switch.

The news came from Nintendo's investor earnings call (via David Gibson). Specifically, investors asked in which areas the company was increasing its R&D spending. And Nintendo confirmed that it is currently investing in its "next platform."

In other words, Nintendo is definitely working on a console to follow the Nintendo Switch, whether it is called the Switch Pro or the Switch 2. However, that is all Nintendo has confirmed at this point. Rumors and leaks have been circulating for quite some time now, so this is nothing new, but it is nice to have official confirmation that a new console is in the works.

The current Nintendo Switch has proven to be immensely popular with gamers, and this is reflected in the sales figures: in February, Nintendo confirmed that 79.87 million consoles had been shipped worldwide, with 532.34 million games shipped.

This makes the Switch (and Switch Lite) the fifth highest selling Nintendo device to date. Before them are the Nintendo DS (154 million units), Game Boy (118.7 million units), Wii (101.6 million units), and Game Boy Advance (81.5 million units). However, only the DS and Wii have outsold the Switch in games, selling 948.72 million and 921.85 million units, respectively.

The only question is whether this "new hardware" Nintendo refers to is an entirely new console or a revised version of some hardware. After all, the Nintendo Switch Pro should be nothing more than a small upgrade.

Rumor has it that the Switch Pro will allow users to play games on their TVs in 4K HDR, but it will also power up the portable mode a bit thanks to a new OLED display panel. Sadly, the panel's resolution is expected to remain at 720p, so you won't be able to play full HD games on the move.

At the very least, based on this Japanese translation, this will be an entirely new Switch console. Nintendo has stated that the Switch is "in the middle" of its lifecycle, which is why it needs to research and develop the next generation console. This means that the console Nintendo is referring to is still several years away.

If the Switch only receives relatively minor upgrades, like the rumored Switch Pro specs, there is no reason to wait as long as is implied.

Assuming this is the case and a truly proper Nintendo Switch 2 is on the horizon, when will the Switch Pro be available? The ongoing global chip shortage may be a contributing factor; not only is it causing inventory shortages for the Xbox Series X and PS5, but Nintendo is prepared for this issue to affect Switch inventory levels.

Given the difficulty in picking up next-generation consoles and the shortage of Switch consoles at the start of the pandemic, now is not the time to launch a new console. Even if it is as iterative as we expect the Switch Pro to be.

We can only be patient and hope that this disruption will ease. Or perhaps Nintendo is trying to ensure sufficient inventory and avoid the kind of restocking disaster that users planning to purchase an Xbox Series X or PS5 will face.