Nah. The GamePad itself was never the problem, and if you own the system you'd most likely know that. It's a really neat piece of technology, as Off-TV Play is really neat. The problem lies in the branding and (lack of) marketing of the system, poor third-party support, and a major lack of compelling first-party titles during the launch window. Nintendo rested too much on their laurels with the Wii and expected word-of-mouth to spread the Wii U to consumers. Obviously that didn't work, which taught them that they have to always be aggressive.
NNID: TheCCluc