Blouge on 16 August 2014
The Wii U GamePad (the tablet) is awesome and comfortable - I prefer lying on the couch with it over playing on the TV with the Wii U Pro Controller. But Nintendo has been adding more and more support for non-tablet controllers, e.g. you can now browse the eShop without it. It could be possible for them to make it optional and it could shave off some of the cost.
Can you imagine a $200 tabletless Mario Kart / Smash Bros bundle for the holidays? That would sell like crazy.
Nintendo would probably do that and then not advertise it at all.
