Nintendo NX to release by July 2016, claims report

Nintendo's next console, known as the NX, is reportedly coming sooner than we might think.

Digitimes is reporting that major Taiwanese supplier and manufacturer Foxconn has been given the go ahead by Nintendo to start "pilot production" of its next-gen console, the NX. The pilot is due to start as late as this October.

Sources familiar with the matter tell the site that orders are expected to be finalised by March 2016, and mass production to begin by May or June 2016. Nintendo is looking to ship 20 million units during the first year.

The same source believes Nintendo is gearing up for a July 2016 launch for the system.

The Taiwan-based publication estimates Nintendo's output of Wii U consoles in 2015 at a mere 2 million units.

Nintendo first talked about a successor to the Wii U back in March. The company referred to it by the codename "NX" and always shoots down attempts by the press to learn more about it.