Nintendo ALWAYS tries to be different.  They started after the extremely distant 2nd place finish of the N64, their last truly traditional console.  Interestingly, the start of a LONG history of being behind the times.  And sorry, but the Wii U is the Wii 2.  That was Nintendo's intent, hence the "funny" play on 2 with the U.  It's the EXACT same strategy.  HW that's slightly better than last gen.  This also allows it to launch much cheaper than its competition.  It had gimmicky controllers, this time a tablet to try to continue to appeal to the casual market, and even relied on the Wiimotes for multiplayer. 

The Switch is the exact same thing, an alteration to the Wii model.  Weaker HW.  Gimicky controller, this time combining the Wii U pad with the Wiimotes.  Now, they just made it mobile. And it would have been cheaper, but Nintendo decided to go with Nvidia, who is known for charging console makers more.  The reason Sony and MS went with AMD.  Had they gone with more readily available tablet chipset, even higher end ones, they probably could have launched for $199-$249.

The problem with all this?  The Wii was a fad. Nintendo refuses to see this, as do some gamers, but its a fact.  For ~3 years it appealed to casuals, mostly people who don't normally game.  They went over to a friend or relatives house and played Wii Sports or Play, thought it was fun, and since it was only $199-$249 they went and got one for Xmas.  But, once mobile started kicking off, casuals found a new gaming platform and sales dropped incredibly.  It's the only time a console has finished 100M+, while 2nd and 3rd place finished only ~15M behind it.  Reason being that the core audience mostly stuck with the HD Twins, and maybe got the Wii as a secondary console.  In other words, the Wii was lightning.  It was what casuals wanted at that time, but not what the core gamer wanted.  The casuals are gone and Nintendo needs to realize it.