More than four years after its launch, the Nintendo Switch remains a unicorn among video game consoles. But that hasn’t stopped many companies from dreaming of trying to capture some of Switch’s magic for themselves, and now it looks like Qualcomm might be trying to clone the Nintendo hybrid device.
According to a new report by Android Police, Qualcomm – a company best known for manufacturing modems and mobile processors – is considering making its first retail device in recent years. It seems to be a gadget that, in all respects, would be taking over Qualcomm on a Nintendo Switch.
Based on the non-final images of the devices, Qualcomm’s portable console is said to have detachable controllers, similar to Nintendo’s Joy-Cons, along with a central module that houses a display, processor and other components, including a 6,000 mAh battery. Bluetooth, wifi and more. And because we are talking about Qualcomm, it is expected that this phone will be equipped with 5G connectivity.
Like the Switch, Qualcomm’s rumored console is expected to support video output capabilities when docked to an external TV or monitor, with additional on-board storage available via an SD card slot. Qualcomm’s home screen / launcher is said to be based on Android 12, and it looks like Qualcomm will try to support a number of third-party game stores from publishers such as Epic, Google and others. It is not known if Qualcomm has plans to support cloud gaming services, such as Google Stadia or Nvidia’s GeForce Now, although hardware-only would probably not be difficult to accommodate.
It looks like Qualcomm is aiming for a launch date in early 2022, with a target price of around $ 300, Qualcomm hopes to sell directly to consumers, but could also open the device to partnerships with carriers and other retailers to increase the availability and presence of the device.
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Now, if you take a step back and think about it, the idea seems to have little merit. Qualcomm is already one of the largest manufacturers of mobile processors in the world and compared to the Nvidia Tegra X1 chip currently used in the Switch (which was already a bit dated in 2017 when Nintendo chose to use it to power the console), chips Qualcomm modern Greg Snapdragon 888 or Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 it would almost certainly have an advantage in both overall performance and energy efficiency. And given Qualcomm’s expertise and extensive wireless IP stocks, the company could probably produce a device with better wireless connectivity than Nintendo. After all, a switch is not much more than a sleek smartphone with screwed controllers on the sides.
And yet, I think Qualcomm’s plans to create its own Switch clone will be an exercise in frustration.
Qualcomm’s first major hurdle is that it usually only operates as a B2B vendor, and apart from a handful of prototypes and reference devices, Qualcomm doesn’t really create devices for ordinary people. Qualcomm produces chips, modems and sensors that power many of the consumer gadgets we use every day, but the company does not create these gadgets themselves.
This turns out to be Qualcomm’s second biggest challenge: lack of brand recognition. Now there is no doubt that Qualcomm is an extremely influential company. It produces most of the mobile chips used on today’s Android phones and tablets. The problem is that people are not used to seeing Qualcomm as a real brand. When people buy a Samsung phone, they don’t buy it just because it has a Qualcomm processor. This is just one of the many components and buy the whole package. The logo that really matters is the one on the back of the device, whether it’s a fruit or a name or something that is almost never Qualcomm’s. (And that doesn’t take into account the fact that most people don’t have a choice as to which chips are selected for use in the devices they buy.)
The third major argument against the Qualcomm Switch clone is that Qualcomm does not create content. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the Switch is far from hardware perfection. Joy-Cons suffers from shunting, the switch still doesn’t really support Bluetooth sound, its screen isn’t particularly colorful or clear, and its performance isn’t that impressive.
But what Nintendo has is a huge library of content, recognized mascots and that general “Nintendo magic” that makes everything feel fun and whimsical. At the launch of the Switch, it debuted alongside what is probably the best Zelda game ever. What could Qualcomm have in store that could compete with that? No company does more with less performance than Nintendo, Nintendo manages to sell more than the much more powerful Xbox and PlayStation consoles from Microsoft and Sony.
Granted, the Android Police report mentions that Qualcomm is trying to support third-party game stores that could create games such as Fortnite, The impact of Genshinand other popular titles available on the Qualcomm handheld. But it’s important to remember that anyone who plays those games already has a device to play, which means Qualcomm has to deliver something unique that no other device has, which seems like a real challenge, consider how hard Qualcomm is to tread on Nintendo’s playing card. Ask yourself: what special feature could Qualcomm implement on its switching clone that would make you choose it instead of a traditional switch or console?
But then things get even more complicated if you think recent reports have done that Nintendo could launch a revamped Switch with better performance and a more premium display, potentially before the end of the year. If Nintendo can deliver, this would make any Qualcomm portable console deliver even less attractive in early 2022.
But perhaps the biggest argument against the Switch clone rumored by Qualcomm are all the other Switch clones that failed to gain significant traction. Last year, at CES, Dell unveiled a PC-based Switch concept device called Project UFO, but after more than 14 months, we still haven’t received updates about the UFO project that ever hit the market. And this year, Lenovo teamed up with NEC to create LaVie Mini, which is another Switch clone with removable controllers built from computer parts.
And then there are lesser-known companies, such as GPD, that make small devices as Win 3, not to mention the millions of phones that can be converted into a handheld console via controller accessories or touch controls. It’s been four years since the Switch came out and it is believed that Qualcomm – a company that doesn’t produce consumer gadgets – will be able to recreate the Switch’s success when countless others have tried and failed it seems like a Herculean task.
I’m not going to say that Qualcomm’s portable console plans are 100% doomed, but where they stand, the chances of victory seem, at best, slim.
And yet, I’m still incredibly curious to see them try. Heck, maybe Qualcomm can stumble upon a winning formula or something 5G increase will radically change the way we use portable consoles. (It’s unlikely in the short term, but hey, who knows). So let me ask you, is a portable video game console made by Qualcomm something you would like to see?