The next Nintendo console may release sooner than you think. In March, the Nintendo Switch will turn five years old. Since then, Nintendo has built upon the platform with the Nintendo Switch Lite and 2021's Nintendo Switch OLED. Meanwhile, this trio of consoles has been bolstered with the likes of Nintendo Switch Online. And unlike Nintendo's previous console, the Wii U, the Nintendo Switch has been a success. In fact, it's already one of the best-selling video game consoles of all time and it's only five years into its lifespan. With the way the console is selling, and with its incredible software attach rate, you wouldn't blame Nintendo if it milks the Switch for as long as possible, but one industry analyst believes it will avoid this temptation.

Ampere analyst Piers Harding-Rolls has gone on the record saying he believes the next Nintendo console will arrive sometime in late 2024.

What this console will be, is anyone's best guess, but that's pretty soon considering how the Switch is selling, but standard when you compare it to the lifespan of previous gaming consoles. That said, because the next console is so close, Harding-Rolls believe there will be no "Nintendo Switch Pro," like rumors have suggested.

"I'm currently expecting the console market year-on-year performance to be quite flat in 2022 as Switch sales decline and we come off what has been an amazing couple of years for console gaming," said Harding-Rolls. "Even so, Nintendo Switch family of devices will once again be the best-selling consoles in 2022 at around 21 million sold to consumers, aided by the release of Switch OLED. I'm not expecting a Switch Pro in 2022. We have a next-gen Nintendo console in our forecasts for late 2024, so I'm not convinced a 'Pro' model is going to appear at all."

For now, it remains to be seen if any of this will come to pass. There's been scuttlebutt about the next Nintendo console, but not much scuttlebutt, suggesting it's not on the horizon, not yet at least.