Read the last paragraph of the article.

"The 3DS launched in February 2011 (however, 3DS sales have been aligned to March 2011, since it only launched at the end of February in Japan), while the Nintendo Switch launched worldwide in March 2017. The Switch has sold 8.86 million units, while the 3DS sold 7.72 million units during the same timeframe."

It is launches aligned.  The two sales curves are very similar.

How is that a handheld sales curve though? The reason they look so similar is due to them releasing at the same time of the year.

Edit: http://www.vgchartz.com/article/277011/switch-vs-dsvgchartz-gap-chartsmay-2018-update/

Compare it to DS, it looks much different because of the different launch windows.

I restate my original point.  Why does the Switch sell so much better than the Wii U, when their game libraries are so similar?  The answer is that it is selling mostly to the handheld market and not the home console market.  Is the Switch's sales curve more like the 3DS or the Wii U?  It's a lot like the 3DS, not only in shape, but more importantly in volume.

In other words, the real question is "who is buying the Switch"?  These customers didn't come from nowhere.  From which existing market did they come from?  Mostly from 3DS owners wanting to move on to the next generation.  

I think trying to narrow it down to a single audience is naive, its a combination of 3DS/Vita/Wii U owners looking to upgrade, PS/XB/PC gamers looking for a secondary device along with lapsed gamers and possibly more.

He's disappointed in himself more than anything else. He believed the Wii U would sell well, it didn't. He then warned people about Switch, nobody should buy it because it would be the Wii U all over again. Since he can't admit to himself that he doesn't know enough to predict somewhat accurately, he directs anger at everyone and everything pro-Switch.

I must have Alzheimers because I can't even remember me warning people about the Switch (laughing out loud here). Or claiming that the Wii U would sell well. What did I eat last night? Apparently you know me better than me. 

Listen, we all know that you are ultra disappointed of Nintendo, of the Wii U and of the Switch as well. But no matter how many times you try to shit on it, it wil still be a hot item that people want to buy.

Yes I am ultra disappointed in Nintendo. Switch is basically the only console they support right now, yet it does so many things worse than Wii U even after years of preparation, experience, feedback and 1.5 years since its release. Good for Nintendo that they finally earn money again, but they shouldn't be rewarded for being so out of touch with modern gaming.

Markets exist.  This is not just true in the video game industry.  It is true in every industry.  Markets exist.

For example, GM, Ford, Toyota, Honda, etc... are all in the automobile market.  If GM sales go down and Volkswagon sales go up, then the car companies don't panic or just say it's all a random mess that can't be understood.  They say, "Customers are leaving GM and going to Volkswagon".  It's not a random mess that is too complex to analyze.  Instead sales can be stated in simple terms, because people believe that markets exist.

So, what does this have to do with video games?  Video games have their own markets.  Normally there is a home console market for systems like the PS4, XB1 and Wii U.  There is a handheld market for systems like the 3DS and Vita.  PC has its own market as does mobile.

Then along comes the Switch.  This can be a harder system to understand, so it is easier if we go back to models that people have been using a long time now: the home and handheld markets.  Is Switch mostly in the home market or mostly in the handheld market?  Or perhaps it is X% in the home market and (100-X)% in the handheld market?  I hoped we could discuss things in terms of markets.  Your answer to me is that markets don't exist and it is naive of me to think that they do. 

This goes back to my original point I was making to Mnementh.  People don't understand what happened with the Wii U or the Switch or the PS4.  Zorg1000, I actually consider you ahead of the curve when it comes to this stuff.  But now I see that you don't even believe markets exist.  If you don't understand what is going on, then what hope does anyone else have?