The Wii U is going to continue to sell poorly until the holiday season, when Nintendo makes a huge push with their major franchises: Mario platformer, Mario Kart, Wind Waker HD, and maybe something from Retro (Smash Bros probably won't come out until some time next year). At this point, Nintendo fans are going to be partying, talking about how great the Wii U is and how it's all sunshine from here on out.
Trouble is, 3rd party games on the Wii U are probably going to struggle, and despite an uptick in hardware sales over the holiday, publishers are going to be just as wary about the Wii U as they are now, likely leading to another software drought in 2014.
The question, then, is how far Nintendo's traditional franchises will take them, how many Wii U consoles can be sold solely on the strength of Mario and Zelda.
