Switch JoyCon maker ramps production spending, may indicate Switch 2 entering mass production

Increased spending at Hosiden, the Japanese component manufacturer that helps make Nintendo's current-gen Switch JoyCons, indicates that Nintendo's new Switch 2 console may be entering (or may have already entered) mass production.

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As per MST Financial analyst David Gibson, Japanese electronics firm Hosiden has ramped up capital expenditures on production equipment for its amusement segment. Gibson goes on to say that Nintendo is Hosiden's main buyer in this segment, and apparently the company provides analog sticks for Switch JoyCons and also helped make the Switch's AC adapter. This increased spending could point towards Switch 2 systems entering principal production and assembly at hardware plants.

The news also lines up with previous reports that further indicate Switch 2 consoles are gearing up for mass production for global markets. Chinese electronics company Weltrend is readying power management integrated circuits (PMICs) for "new models" of the Xbox, Switch, and PlayStation consoles.

These are presumably the new digital-only Xbox Series X, the Switch 2, and Sony's PlayStation 5 Pro.

There are further reports that Nintendo could be using newly-designed JoyCons for the Switch successor that include gyroscopes. This would make the Switch 2's JoyCons more akin to the Wii U gamepad. Interestingly enough, the current-gen Switch Pro controller already has built-in gyroscope functionality.

While nothing has been confirmed or announced by Nintendo so far, these are bits and pieces that have been gleaned from companies that provide components for Nintendo hardware.

Further leaning into rumors and reports shows that, spec-wise, the Switch 2 is believed to utilize a customized version of NVIDIA's T239 Orin-based SoC, likely outfitted with a lower power profile to facilitate on-the-go play.

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The Switch successor may utilize some form of NVIDIA's 8nm Orin-based Tegra T239 chip to facilitate upscaled 4K gaming.

Thanks to the custom T239 chip, the Switch 2 should utilize some form of NVIDIA's DLSS technology to upscale image quality to 4K resolution for better-looking visuals on UHD TVs. Nintendo has been investigating deep learning (the "DL" in NVIDIA's DLSS) since 2019, and the company has made it a part of its research and development spending over the last 5 years.

It's also likely that the Switch 2 will retain the dual hybrid form factor. We've previously reported that the Switch OLED's dock is capable of outputting native 4K resolution at 60FPS thanks to a new-and-improved chip. Presumably, since the entire current-gen Switch family, including the OLED model, cannot actually rendering 4K visuals, there's really no reason to go with a new video-switcher dock chip that's capable of outputting 4K unless Nintendo is planning to actually leverage the 4K capabilities of the chip.

The Switch 2 is likewise expected to launch mid-2025 at the earliest, with a possible release in Holiday 2025 to coincide with the Christmas season.