NoA's Doug Bowser Talks About the Switch Lite, Future of the 3DS

Not long ago, Nintendo released the Switch Lite, a smaller, handheld only version of their current flagship console. Now that it's been out for a while, Doug Bowser muses on its success and whether or not it will replace the Nintendo 3DS.

President of Nintendo of America Doug Bowser recently spoke with Andrew Webster of The Verge about Nintendo's recent projects and issues. In it, he remarked about the unique success of the Nintendo Switch Lite.
 

It's not only raised the sell-through for the overall family but importantly it did so without any negative impact on our flagship system. Said another way, Nintendo Switch Lite sales have been additive to the overall Switch business.

This tracks with Nintendo's recent earnings report, which indicates that 43 percent of Switch Lite owners already had a standard Nintendo Switch. But Bowser sees it differently, looking at this number as an indication of how much further they reached in the consumer spectrum due to the system, especially with women.

I'll talk to the inverse, which is 57 percent of the consumers are new to the Nintendo Switch family, and that's equally important to us as we continue to expand the audience. One of the important trends we're also seeing with Nintendo Switch Lite is a higher percentage of female consumers are buying a Nintendo Switch Lite, which is a strong indicator of the appeal to a broader audience.

With the massive success of the Nintendo Switch and the additional success of the Switch Lite, many consumers speculate toward the end of the Nintendo 3DS, their last handheld console. With the portable nature of their current systems, the focus has noticeably shifted away from the 3DS. But Bowser hasn't given up on it yet.

We continue to look at the 3DS family, both hardware and games, as a strong entry point for some consumers. And we're seeing that. As long as consumer demand is there, well continue to provide both hardware and software on that front. We're certainly not going to say it today. I think time will tell. We will continue to support 3DS this holiday and into 2020.

So as long as people still support the 3DS, they will continue to do the same.

It's certainly clear that the rise of Nintendo over the last few years has no plans of stopping. And frankly, that's fine by us.