Depending on who you ask, the lifecycle of the original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) either lasted from 1985 to 1995 or 1985 to 2003. Regardless, both 10 and 18 years are relatively long times for a console to be on the market and get official support. So, when Nintendo says that the "Nintendo Switch era" will last longer compared to the "NES era", which is to say that Nintendo isn't ending support for the Switch anytime soon.

New Nikkei article claims that Nintendo has begun negotiations with suppliers regarding production of its next-generation console. from GamingLeaksAndRumours

Nintendo company president, Shuntaro Furukawa, recently sat down to do an interview with Nikkei, the world's foremost financial newspaper, where he revealed two things: Nintendo isn't changing anytime soon and the company is already looking forward to its next hardware.

According to the article, Nintendo's next hardware won't hit store shelves until at least late 2024, which is in line with earlier reports.

Going back to what Nintendo said about the Switch generation being the longest in the company's history, there's another way of looking at it. Nintendo's longest-tenured flagship console is currently the NES, which wasn't replaced by the SNES until after seven years. Despite the multiple variations, both the Switch Lite and Switch OLED still belong to the same Switch family, which means to say that Switch will beat the NES by July 2024. If we assume that the Switch successor will be out in time for next year's holiday season, the Switch will "retire" with another record broken and set.

All told, you can't blame Nintendo for sitting tight and letting the market run its course. The Switch continues to sell well and when it's all said and done, it could end up selling close to 140 million units. This wouldn't be enough to supplant the Nintendo DS for second place all-time, but it'd be close.

Nintendo Switch fans can look forward to at least two more fruitful years of exclusive titles, starting with Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon on March 17 and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom on May 12.