The Switch was unveiled on October 20, 2016; the concept came about as Nintendo's reaction to financial losses attributed to poor sales of the Wii U and market competition from mobile games.

[13] About three years prior to the Switch's announcement, Iwata, Tatsumi Kimishima, Genyo Takeda, and Shigeru Miyamoto crafted a strategy for revitalizing Nintendo's business model, which included approaching the mobile market, creating new hardware, and "maximizing [their] intellectual property".

[18][19] Nintendo of America president and COO Reggie Fils-Aimé emphasized the console's appeal as a device that would provide gamers the option to play at home or on the go and noted that it would enable developers to create new types of games.

[21] Miyamoto said that some broad concepts of the Switch extend from the "lateral thinking with seasoned technology" design philosophy of Gunpei Yokoi that Nintendo has used over the last couple of decades.

Nintendo was not focused on raw processing power but was instead looking to balance the overall features of the system, including battery life and size, as well as keeping in mind their limited development resources and timeline.

[68] Although the Nintendo Switch had not officially been released in China prior to December 2019, it is still widely available in the country due to grey market imports from Hong Kong and other regions, such as Japan.

[93][95] The main unit of the Switch is the console, a battery-powered tablet-like monitor that consists of an LCD screen measuring 6.2 inches (160 mm) on its diagonal, the same as the Wii U GamePad.

[99][50] The console includes a 3.5 mm audio jack, stereo speakers on the bottom face of the unit below the screen, a USB-C port for charging, and a kickstand on the back side.

[110] Nintendo patented a means of using multiple Switch consoles to create a multi-monitor configuration by arranging them on a flat surface and spanning a single gameplay environment across their screens.

[129] Such features are part of Nintendo's "quality of life" goals to incorporate physical activity alongside the Switch, similar to past games like Wii Fit.

[131] Nintendo ultimately unveiled a new Labo VR kit in March 2019, using a cardboard headset and viewer placed in front of the console's screen, in combination with attached accessories.

[166] An updated version of the Nintendo Switch under model number "HAC-001(-01)" was announced on July 17, 2019, and was released in Japan and North America in mid-August 2019, and in the United Kingdom in September 2019.

[167] According to The Wall Street Journal, Nintendo's goal with the Switch Lite was to produce a sub US$200 unit, aimed at casual gamers, to compete with gaming services that do not require a dedicated device.

[213] Continued rumors of a high-end model were fueled by a leak of Nvidia's source code showing a custom chip with DLSS support made for Nintendo.

Nintendo still curates which games they allow on the system, using the company's past portfolio for evaluation, and still carefully time releases to keep a steady stream of new content.

[298] During its official unveiling in October 2016, Nintendo deliberately opted not to provide a list of games for the system, as they "want people to touch the device in January [2017] and experience the software for themselves", according to Kimishima.

[50] Ultimately, the system launched with:[r] 1-2-Switch, Arcade Archives, Fast RMX, I am Setsuna, Just Dance 2017, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, New Frontier Days: Founding Pioneers, Othello, Skylanders: Imaginators, Snipperclips, Super Bomberman R, Voez, and Vroom in the Night Sky.

Fils-Aimé said that Nintendo planned a "steady cadence of content" for the Switch after launch, avoiding the perceived situation with gaps between major releases for Wii U software.

[326] For example, the October 2016 trailer (considered significantly unlike Nintendo's past marketing efforts, according to Bloomberg[14]) was designed to show the various ways that the Switch can be used so that viewers would recognize that "each of its forms offer different play experiences for people to enjoy".

"[329] Additional television commercials followed the Super Bowl spot, which were to demonstrate Switch's use cases among different demographics, as well as "casual" and "core" gaming audiences.

[329] Such ad venues included the 2017 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, the 2017 Kids' Choice Awards, and on programming blocks for Nickelodeon, Adult Swim, and Comedy Central.

[49][346][347][348] However, other analysts found that the pricing factors indicated the Switch was a more robust console, and would likely sell better than the Wii U, with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild being a key sales driver.

[346] These analysts also figured the Switch fills an appropriate gap in hardware for those seeking more complex gameplay that is not offered in tablet and mobile gaming but who did not need to purchase a powerful "boxy" console.

[356][357][358][359] Developer Hideo Kojima compared the notion of the Switch to his idea of "transfarring" that he presented in 2011, allowing players to take a game from a home platform to a portable one, which became the basis of Sony's cross-buy program.

[362] Retailers were also generally positive with the Switch; GameStop CEO Paul Reines stated the unit was transformative in the market and would be a "game-changer" that could "expand the audience for gaming".

[366] Upon release, the Switch was praised by reviewers for having a lot of potential, but they were underwhelmed by the limited number of games available at launch that did not show the full extent of the console's abilities.

[403] Kimishima said that a key goal in their production ramp up would be to make sure they have enough Switch inventory near the end of 2017 for holiday sales, as to avoid the issue with Wii shortages that occurred during its first holiday-season period, while balancing the near-term high demand.

[347] During the November 2017 Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday sales that kicked off the holiday shopping season in North America, Adobe Digital Insights' analysis showed the Switch was one of the top-five selling items, outpacing the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One.

[407] Shortly after this announcement, Kimishima said that Nintendo has a target of 20 million units sold within the console's second year, along with releasing new games that "enables new ways of playing" to continue the sales momentum.

[461] Nintendo's stock was further boosted a few days later to meet its eight-year high following Capcom's announcement of plans to release the popular Monster Hunter XX for the Switch.