Since from a technical standpoint, and looking at how better utilized it's been so far, what would have happened if Nintendo had made the Switch in place of the Wii U? Would they be doing better now than they currently are, worse, or pretty much the same?

I think with the Switch being made in place of the Wii U Nintendo would've done much better than it has this gen. Switch is a much less confusing name, people would see right away it's a new console and not an add-on, and it would have the power to handle third party games.

Considering it's an evolved Wii U concept with a more obvious name, the answer is a YES.

Ignoring technical limitations at the time? Yes Nintendo would be in a fantastic position if they released Switch in 2012 instead of WiiU.

But it doesn't matter because making the Switch wasn't possible 5 years ago... at least not at any sort of reasonable price.

If it were possible, thenyeah it would have been much better.Assuming Nintendo didnt made the same mistakes as it did with the Wii U, such as lack of games, horrible marketing and many more, it would have been successful.

But realistically speaking, thats too many Ifs.Nintendo is (supposidelly) getting it all right now, with marketing, games and such, because of the failure that was Wii U.So I think it is safe to assume it would have made the same mistakes with the Switch, if it was released instead of the Wii U.Not to mention that the technology would be too expensive for the time(in my opinion).So no, I would say it would have failed nevertheless(even if in not the same level)

The Switch is a far more desirable system, so of course it would have sold better. Perhaps it would have even got some games that were on both PS3/PS4 and 360/XB1.

Not really since the Switch would have been a lot more expensive to produce

and the 3DS would have to compete against it

What makes you say that?