Posted in: Games, Nintendo, Video Games | Tagged: china, HRL, nintendo, nintendo switch, switch

Nintendo Has No Plans to Bring the Switch to China this Year

Published Tue, 13 Feb 2018 12:45:21 -0600

With the Switch's massive popularity and it being the best selling console in North America last year, you would think Nintendo would be aggressively courting new markets to bring the console to. However, that does not appear to be the case. According the the Q&A section of Nintendo's yearly financial briefing, Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima answered investor questions on whether Nintendo has any activities planned for the China region for Fiscal Year 2018.

Q4: I understand from your answers that you will continue to study business possibilities in China because it is such an incredibly huge and alluring market. But I've also seen observation articles in the mass media about Nintendo initiatives, so looking both the long-term and the next year, can you give us any hints about any activities that Nintendo might begin in the separate business areas of home consoles, handheld game devices, and smart devices?

Kimishima: China has a huge population and I believe there are many people who want to enjoy the forms of play and games made by Nintendo, which is why we continue to study business opportunities even though our products are unavailable there at the present time. We would like to see the people of China also experience Nintendo's forms of play and games that other countries enjoy now. How best to achieve this is a subject we are working through point by point, consulting with various other parties on aspects we cannot tackle alone. I would like to realize this as quickly as possible, but there is nothing I can say at this time about activities that will start within the year.

Regarding the expansion of our smart-device business in China, it would be better to collaborate with local carriers rather than go at it alone, but as of now there is nothing I can say on this topic either. That said, I hope that consumers in China in the future will be able to enjoy our games just like in other regions.

While Kimishima said that there was nothing to announce for the region at the briefing. Currently, Nintendo sells Traditional Chinese consoles like the iQue series in the Hong Kong and Taiwan regions. They do not get to experience the more familiar range of Nintendo consoles that those in Japan and the West are accustomed to, which includes the new hybrid console.

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