Do you have any idea how much MS makes from Live? I'm talking about profit, not revenue. Microsoft's gaming division has spent much, much more money than Nintendo.

EDIT: check out this thread. It's a shame there is no source but I have seen those numbers before with a legitimate source so the numbers are correct.

Wii U is far from dead.
It`s going through a bad time because of the actual lack of games and ports that people already have (or can get cheaper... a lot cheaper) but that is about to change.
Coming March, the games will begin to arrive even if at a slow pace. In the second half things are going to get even better with Rayman, Wind Waker, Call of Duty, Battlefield, Mario or Mario Kart, Yoshi (?), Watch Dogs, etc.

From what i can see, Europe and the US are getting a better first year with Wii U than with 3DS. And we know how 3DS did in it`s first year: only two games and a price drop were needed. Take a price drop and replace with hits and voilá!
I got some doubts for Japan as i don`t see a lot of Japan oriented titles but that could change soon.

^ forgot about Pikmin 3!

He has actually a point there. If we read the article and compare to numbers, yes, he's right.

First off, if we take a look back at Nintendo's homeconsole history, we cannot denny that 3rd party support is weaker each generation and first-party games were not enough to "save" all the consoles, like N64 or NGC. It was the handheld in turn that made the company keeps afloat. Considering that 3rd party support is important for success to consoles without a hook to the mainstream audience, Nintendo has no chance there. No matter if they sell bad (N64/NGC) or sell good (Wii).

Nintendo is positioned in a weird manner that no matter how much it sell, it won't get third party support (blame Nintendo, third parties or the userbase). So considering in an honest manner where they are and what they cannot get, there's no other option but to market a message to the audience of why they should need to buy the newest piece of hardware only with the own company projects.

The "Why to buy" for Wii was motion controls, something we already have seen before, but not in the same way like the Wii: a console completely around this especific concept. Not a pheripheral, but the main way of play. Now, Wii U is just an incomplete tablet in a world full of tablets and smarthphones. Or at least that's how the mainstream audience looks it.

There's no hook, there's no software for dedicated fanbase, and price is also a factor. This is not new for Nintendo. 3DS was in the same position as 3D and the 2 screens - 1 touch screen are not anymore concepts not provided in a mainstream way to the audience. DS and Wii were a perfect couple: DS touch screen and Wii motion controls. New ways to play, one different from the other. 3DS and Wii U are not in the same vein.

Unlike the handheld market, the homeconsole space for Nintendo is a tougher one without meaningful support from outside and games taking more time to be completed. Droughts will be bigger, support from third parties less, and focus for Nintendo will be in the already profitable portable market which faces hardships with the smartphone/tablet boom.

This leaves the homeconsole in a position difficult to turn around. Maybe the big first party software will be there at late this year, but won't count with the same heavy support from outside to continue with a steady stream of games to keeps momentum.

Wii U could sell alright, mediocre or bad numbers, but the advantage that one year could provide a console is now been wasted in a way that prevent the hardware to put stellar numbers.

Something like trouble? I guess they called it a bit too soon... When at first you don't succeed, try the exact same thing again, but do it better.

(4 years later)

did it recover yet?

Stock higher that its main competitor, selling out everywhere and breaking records for Nintendo, 3D Mario and Zelda in same year probably going to be duking it out for GOTY 2017, Pokemon Go, NES Classic, SNES Classic sold out in UK... Pokemon Switch and Metroid Prime 4 on the way... hmm... yep, they still haven't recovered.

In some people's minds, they could sell 100 million consoles and still be called unsuccessful. Oh wait that already happens daily lol.