The Nintendo Co., Ltd (ADR) (OTCMKTS: NTDOY) Switch has been a huge hit among gamers. However, recent changes Nintendo is making to the device may soon make it a major hit among all cable cord cutters.
Up to this point, the Switch has not supported third-party video streaming apps. However, earlier this month, Nintendo announced that the Switch would be supporting Japanese YouTube-like streaming app NicoNico, leaving the door open for Nintendo to add other popular apps such as Netflix, Inc. NFLX 0.74%, Hulu, Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN 2.48% Prime Video and Alphabet Inc GOOG 0.8% GOOGL 0.61%’s YouTube at some point in the near future.
Popular Streaming Devices
While these streaming services have been disrupting the traditional cable TV model, the Switch could soon be doing its own disrupting as well. A survey of 1,000 cord cutters conducted earlier this year by Cord Cutters News identified the most popular devices people use to stream video. Here’s an overview of the results:
- Roku: 72 percent
- Amazon Fire TV: 42.1 percent
- Laptop/PC: 30.5 percent
- Apple Inc. AAPL 0.7% TV: 28.6 percent
- Game System: 20.5 percent
- Google Chromecast: 20.4 percent
- Smart TV: 20.1 percent
- Google Android TV: 8.6 percent
Potential Victims
Assuming streaming video on the Switch would most appeal to the 20.5 percent of cord cutters who already watch TV using a gaming device, the Switch’s streaming capabilities would be the biggest threat to Sony Corp (ADR) SNE 0.78%. In addition to holding a modest share of the global TV market, Sony has a dominant share of the global gaming console market with its PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 devices. Microsoft Corporation MSFT 0.16%’s Xbox One and Xbox 360 hold a distant second place share.
Preliminary sales numbers indicate that Sony and Microsoft should certainly be taking the Switch’s threat seriously. On Wednesday, Nintendo reported its first significant jump in second quarter sales in a decade, as seen in the Statista chart below.
The Switch launched in March 2017 and is…
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