One important consideration regarding the Switch 2 launch date that I haven't seen mentioned by anyone is that Nintendo will have to subsist on their current revenue streams until that date. Their primary revenue stream is still the original Nintendo Switch ecosystem which is currently in decline YoY, and this decline will be readily apparent in the coming year since there is no realistic possibility that the 2024 release schedule to match this year's revenue potential. Any title in Nintendo's portfolio that could plausibly match Zelda or Mario (during the same year as the movie no less) would be expected to target the Switch 2 specifically (i.e.: the next Smash/AC/MK is not coming out for Switch), and the remaining Switch titles that are either known or rumored about (e.g.: MP4/FE) would be targetting an existing audience that already has a Switch rather than driving new Switch sales. There are no major multimedia initiatives (non-video game stuff) planned for next year, and I doubt Nintendo would be hiding such initiatives this close to 2024 when they've just announced the Zelda movie further down the road.
In other words, Nintendo is expected to make less money in 2024 than in 2023 before the Switch 2 launches. I highly doubt that Nintendo would be caught blindsided by this forecast - it's a pretty obvious conclusion when considering what came out in 2023. However, it's still worth mentioning since most of the predictions being made in this thread doesn't seem to take this into consideration. Obviously, there's other considerations to consider like production schedules, but I believe Nintendo would want to launch the Switch 2 sooner rather than later. I personally don't see the Switch 2 launching any later than August - 2/3 of the year is a really long time to go for a dry spell.
