Nintendo Switch Mini: Is a more portable console on the way?

The Nintendo Switch continues to set the pace in the console gaming world, but that doesn’t mean the company isn’t looking to the future.

Rumours of a sequel Switch have been around since the launch of the console itself. The latest whisper isn’t of a sequel device, but of a smaller, more portable Nintendo Switch.

Japanese news service Nikkei (via Nintendo Soup) is behind reports claiming a Nintendo Switch Mini, which would be easier for gamers to transport, could be on the way by the middle of this year.

According to the sources, Nintendo is hoping to expand its user base, presumably with a more affordable price tag. That would mean a trade off of more limited functionality, the report says.

Related: Upcoming Nintendo Switch Games

The information contained in the report allegedly comes directly from game developers and manufacturing partners who’ve been briefed on Nintendo.

Whether Nintendo would be willing to dilute its most successful console since the Wii with a smaller, more limited Switch in order to boost the uptake, is debatable.

However, despite strong sales over the holiday period, Nintendo is cutting its sales forecast for 2019. The company sold 9.41 million Switch consoles in the last three months of 2019. That brings the total to 32.27 million consoles since the launch in 2017.

However, Nintendo had targeted April to April sales of 20 million and has now revised that figure to 17 million, amid expectations of a slowdown in the first quarter of 2019.

Could it be that sales of the Switch console have now peaked, and Nintendo is looking to squeeze a little more life out of the first-generation model before gearing up for the sequel? Or are these reports wide of the mark?

Would you buy a smaller, more portable Nintendo Switch console? Or do you find the current device perfectly portable? Let us know @TrustedReviews on Twitter.