Well obviously I'm referring to mainstream, widescale usage.

The chart I linked to earlier showing the breakdown of how Switch is used, showed the majority used it both as a home console & a handheld - so to me, seems reasonable to say it is most accurately described as a hybrid...

You think we should accept N's marketing department's insistence that it's a home console rather than using actual reality as a reference?

Wii and Wii U were weak compared to the competition yet they were still considered consoles.

Just because you are targeting a different audience doesnt make you less of a competitor. Truth be told if Nintendo Switch didnt exist and families wanted to play video games which system would they buy?

Tablets. 

Lol I dont know any families that sit around playing local co op on tablets but its a possibility.

Oh you meant the family together. Well that's rare these days. Most kids game by themselves on their phone, tablet, ps4, xbox, switch or 3ds.

Nintendo’s biggest audience has been Casuals and Families for at least Wii and Nintendo Switch. I dont really know what they were targeting with Wii U. Lol. But Nintendo Switch also targets hardcore gamers that want to play handheld.

This. 

And on another topic, being designed as a handheld has consequences. The games designed for it can't have comparable hardware requirements when compared to the others home consoles. So they get  ported or made completely downgraded, so the 3rd party experience is inferior. Of course Nintendo Relay in highly creative talent that can make games like Zelda BOTW. But why can't you have both things like with GOW or RDR2? Of course you loose the portability of the handheld. Yo can't have both at the price. The other extreme would be Microsoft XBox One X. It has better hardware, runs RDR2 for example with better textures than any other console but it almost looses great exclusives saving two or three out there.

Anyway. Most people that enjoy multiplats will choose between XBox and PS4. And people that loves Nintendo will buy Switch.

A large % of gamers will choose one Xbox/PS4 and a Switch as their second system. PC Gamers will do the same especially with crossplat F2P. Nintendo is smart they lined themselves up as a Primary for a large audience and a secondary for the rest.

Now on Sales again. Who is buying the Switch?

Let see the sales of Nintendo with Home Consoles (rounded numbers):

NES 62
SNES 49 - lost 13 million
N64 33 - lost 16 million
GC 22 - lost 11 million
Wii 102 - Bought by casuals and family a lot, sold at half the price than other consoles and introduced the controllers. Most hardcore gamers don´t like it.
Wii U 14 - lost 8 million from GC came back with the downward trend.

Gameboy 119
GB advance 81
Nintendo DS 155
Nintendo 3DS 74

Every Mobile console sold a lot, So as we can see if we take away the akward Wii and the novelty it brought (gone in nowadays consoles)
There was a Nintendo core between 10 a 20 million that would buy a new Home Console from them.
But millions and millions that were buying mobile consoles.
So Nintendo Develop the Switch, a handheld with tv connection with a dock that cools the thing, so it can run somewhat faster and connects to a TV.
They Smartly sell it as a Home Console that can be taken away. ( They needed Home Console buyers, they have plenty of mobile buyers). The smartest move of all.
And suddenly they sell a lot.
but when you see the numbers, the first year, the PS4 sells more, The second year, the PS4 sells more ( in it´s 5th year since launch). It´s pretty obvious that is not eating much sales from it or from XBOX. So, it´s pretty clear that it´s a secondary competitor.
What happend with the 3DS sales, They drop quickly!. So who is buying the Switch?
Mostly Nintendo fans, and mobile gamers that want to play on the go.
Who else?
Well, Nintendo has all the characters that you can buy in MC Donalds or at toy stores, So its a great present for Christmas. Also the catalog fits better for family than the other console catalog.
How can you prove that? Switch sudenly sells a lot more in November and December. That´s not hardcore fever. That´s holiday season.

What i´m trying to prove here is that it´s true that you have to choose between 3 console makers. But the target is completely different and the competition is mostly indirect between the switch and the other consoles. It´s designed as a mobile console and more are being bougth by mobile buyers than the rest of the customers.
So, if we compare console sales, you can compare it with the others, but when you compare home console sales, I think the comparision is a little misguided. And that´s why it matters if people call it a home console or not.

Now on a Personal note: I don´t mind if it sells tons more that a PS4 because as I said before , the more gamers play on Switch, the more gamers are going to buy PS or Xbox in the future.
Also The good is Switch is the best mobile console ever, and the most powerfull one. The bad is that it´s a underpowered Home Console that looks last gen compared with ps4 pro or XBox one X.
But for me, it´s kind of sad when Nintendo launched the most powerfull and first 64 bit console, Nintendo 64, codenamed proyect Reality for its graphics and named Machine of the year. Even Silicon Graphics was involved, the greatest graphic company of its time.
After that GameCube, designed by IBM for the CPU and ArtX , a team that form from Silicon Graphic engineers that made Flipper GPU, bougth by ATI and modified to make the awesome radeon 9700 pro.
Personally those were competitive Home Consoles from Nintendo, and not The Wii, or Wii U or Switch.
How can a Zelda or Mario be like with the same creativity but the hardware of Xbox One X... How big the worlds, How detailed those worlds, How a remake of Ocarina of Time or even A link to the past in 3D would be like....
Those who think I have dark intentions to downgrade Nintendo sales need a brain transplant.
But Nintendo feels like Valve making Dota 2 when they used to make Half Life, they are earning money for sure, but it´s not the same.

❌ BANNED: Flaming/Trolling (multiple posts) ~ CGI