I'm sure that when I buy one it can hit 50m.

I think the WiiU has been underrated by the market but its Nintendo's fault. They need to be more in tune with Western consumer demand. When they get it right, as they have done with amibo it really works. However they are making far too many mistakes in the Western markets. I made a video about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QO7hcaJrCBc

Been playing Mario Kart and SM3DW with a couple of the kids at work, looking mighty tempting to buy a Wii U this year. I'm still waiting for a price cut though, all the consoles are too expensive for my taste and I'm going to spend a slightly ridiculous amount of money on a new gaming rig in about a month.

I agree with the OP though; sales aren't everything, the PS4 is leading in sales but it has a really drab selection of games and not a single must-have title for me yet. Then again; it is young and the games are coming.

Better late than never! Let's hope that the next Nintendo console will actually sell decently. It all boils down on how Nintendo will handle it.

I'm glad the WiiU is the wierd little machine it is, because it's pretty much made for me.
I think I'm one of the few people who love their WiiU because of the gamepad, not despite of it. Admittedly I was put off looking at it because it looks heavy and clunky, but once you're holding it in your hands it's the best thing ever.
I've grown up on handhelds mostly (my poor, poor playstation was desterted when it comes to games) and never really got to like playing on a TV. I'm very slightly shortsighted so i need to wear my glasses pretty much exclusively for gaming. It's annoying. But the WiiU comes off as secretly being a big ol' cuddley handheld, so it's perfect for me.
The only thing that makes me sad about it's sales performance, (besides what it means for nintendos financial future and the fact that I know literally no one besides me who owns one in real life) is that Nintendo will probably drop the gamepad idea like a hot potatoe. If Fusion is not a thing, at least.

MS removed Kinect from their consol and cut down prices by alot.

Its time Nintendo does the same.... time to remove the gamepad and sell the consol 100$ cheaper than it currently is being sold. Let games that use the gamepad get a sticker *needs gamepad, and sell the gamepads separately from the consol itself.

right now: 299$ for wii U with gamepad.

What consumer want: 199$ Wii U (without gamepad)


*****cutting the gamepad saves them maybe 60$+  ( ~80$ gamepad vs maybe ~20$ pro controller),
that ontop of a price cut of around 40$, and you could see a 100$ cheaper version of the Wii U selling in stores.

Sales would go up alot, even if they sell each unit at 40$ less than they do today,

software sales would more than make up for it.

It's not funny but actually binary.  The wiiu despite lower hardware sales is still a profitable opportunity for Nintendo to create software and amiibo stuff.  It's a math a thing. Vita is a money pit and likely was never worth making software for and Sony is cutting its losses. Nintendo stands to make more money by not writing the wiiu off and making amiibo and software for it.

Here is how the GameCube did against the Wii U and other current gen consoles.

The PS4 has already outsold the GC LTD.

IMO, 15 million is what I would say is the maximum sell in from Nintendo before the console is discontinued. 

I really can't see Wii U almost doubling it's current number. Especially if NX comes out holiday next year. Wii U would drop even more. Perhaps to a baseline of

If Nintendo has good (or even big) 3rd party support, cutting the gamepad could work well. But they don't and a big part of Nintendo's games are damaged or broken without the gamepad.

If Nintendo could cut out the gamepad (game / PR wise), then they would have done so. That way they could have prevented some big losses.