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Illusion on 29 December 2014
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silvergunner said:

I think there could be another reason for the lack of promotion on part of Nintendo. I wouldn't be surprised if they stopped producing Wii-U consoles a few months ago, and they are trying to sweep it under the carpet (next to the virtual boy) ready for their next system. They plan to just keep a small pool of consoles available for new buyers and sell games just to the fans who bought the system. In addition they will probably ditch the tablet game pad and go back to a normal controller (or just use the Wii-U Pro Controller)

The (circumstantial) evidence for this?

 

  1. The statement that the next Mario game will be on Nintendo's next console, meaning either a gap of several years for their main series or a new system sooner rather than later.
  2. The fact that almost all third party publishers have abandoned the Wii-U and are unlikely to return. A fresh start could attract those developers back, especially if the new hardware is 8th Gen (the Wii-U is pretty much 7.5th Gen)
  3. The fact that almost all Wii-U games can be played without the tablet controller. This means emulating them on new hardware won't require the expensive tablet controller, needing only a standard controller to play.
  4. The fact that the New 3DS is not being sold in the west just yet. Nintendo probably still have thousands of unsold 2DS/3DSXL units (none were discounted during Black Friday) and probably never will sell them. It makes sense with the Fusion strategy (see below) to keep the same idea of having a pool of existing units for sale before launching a new replacement system.
  5. The Nintendo Fusion rumours. It could be that the New 3DS is the first half of the Handheld/Console combination, and the Wii-U's successor won't be too far away.
Overall I think at E3 2015 one of two things will be announced - Nintendo's new console with better hardware at a better price, or more Wii-U games that may never even reach store shelves on a system too expensive for what it is capable of.

 

You bring up some interesting points.  Don't forget, though, during Miyamoto's interview where he mentioned that the next Mario game will be on a future platform he also mentioned that the next console is in the "ideas" stage.  This could definitely put the next console at least a couple years out since we were seeing tech demo's for the Gamecube (Dolphin) and Wii (Revolution) more than 2 years before those actual consoles were released.  That said, there could also have been some mis-understandings in the translation of miyamoto's interview.

 

I think unless Nintendo has a really top-notch idea for a new console, they should just double-down their efforts on supporting the Wii U with great games in the coming few years.  Even with only 8 million consoles, the Wii U has such a loyal and dedicated user base right now that Nintendo can pretty much bank on any main Nintendo IP Wii U game becoming a million seller.  For Nintendo, software is profit right now and I am also worried that if Nintendo releases their next console before 2016 it is going to be way too underpowered when PS5 and XTwo comes out.