Interesting details there. I'm out of town, but when I get back I'll update OP with some of this where applicable.

Well, if that's true (89xx) - that's just insane :)

Even if it's "just" 8850, if AMD managed to build them fully HSA capable APU, that will be really something different - in that case I can see why CPU part is clocked so low compared to desktop counterparts.

I'm saving up my money starting now. This is going to be sweet.

This is just speculation. The Wii U CPU isn't even confirmed, the PS4 & 720 no one knows.  Plus, the PS4 & 720 would be far too expensive to have all of these things packaged in one console.

What are you referring to? The OP and 2nd post or someone in particular?

What do you guys think about the Wii U's pricing? I mean, it is selling slightly below cost, but I think Nintendo may be taking the opportunity of being the only next gen system out to recoup damages from the strong Yen. Maybe I'm not thinking about this right, but compare pricing of the Vita. Supposedly the Vita is selling at cost, even in the US, but looking at its price in Europe and especially in Japan, it is quite high. That's probably because Sony needs profits right now so they are making some bank from Europe and Japan while breaking even to appease the fickle US market they are trying to dominate in since the 3DS is having trouble their too. With Wii U it seems world pricing is more even, making me think they are not willing to take a loss in the non Japanese markets because they don't have next gen competition yet. I expect a large price drop after Microsoft and Sony release/announce their systems and pricing if their systems are comparable to Wii U's price, just like the 3DS & Vita pricing fiasco.

EDIT: Wii U's price is probably a factor in why the PS3 hasn't had a price drop too. If the Wii U was cheaper than Sony would have dropped the price on the super slim and probably will do so agressively if Nintendo does a price drop on the Wii U to undercut the PS4's sales if the PS4 isn't super expensive.  Pretty careful tactics when Sony needs profits and saw what happened to the Vita due to pricing.

MSony did drop their prices during the holidays. But it was mascaraded as holiday sales and bundles. Pretty soon here both will have a conference to introduce non-holiday related price structures as well as their hints for next-gen hardware.

Nintendo doesn't ever try to sell its hardware for a loss, so the pricing is intended to be as close to break-even or with a healthy margin at launch. 3DS of course screwed that up and as such WiiU was launched at a break-even point. (they stated a single game sell with it gives it a profit... and who doesn't buy a game with a new console)

I doubt Nintendo considered Vita when pricing the WiiU. I'm sure they only focused on other current hardware and where they think MSony will be at for their next consoles later in 2013.

It is likely we'll see WiiU go to a single sku later this year with a reduced price before MSony launch. It just makes sense, especially in US where neXtBox will do well and EU where Sony does well. Japan will likely remain with Nintendo.

Just to clarify I wasn't saying Wii U's price was based around Vita's, but PS3's price was based around Wii U's. Vita's price was a factor in 3DS's price drop and Nintendo will probably be willing to do the same if the Xbox or PS launch more powerful consoles around the same price. Granted if Wii U's sales slow like 3DS did. Still it would be in Nintendo's favor to sell cheaper than their competition having released first and having agreed upon weaker hardware. I'm just wondering if Xbox and PS are expensive $400-$500 that Nintendo will hold off any price cuts as a financial measure.

At least I think that's how they seem to price their consoles recently. Wii has always been more afordable, but I'm not sure at what profit margins. I doubt Wii was ever needing to sell at a loss. With Wii U, they obviously didn't want to do what they did with 3DS and aren't risking selling for a profit. By the time the competition comes Wii U production costs could afford a price cut but if either MS or Sony manage a cheap console or sell at a loss than Nintendo might be willing to do the same to avoid being the same price as their competitors.

Just like what the market is willing to pay for something can determine a price, so can the pricing of a competitor.

EDIT: By the way, what are the likely production cost reducing routes the Wii U hardware could take?

Just to make it clear, that statement was in reference to the situation in the US, where the console costs 299/349 USD BEFORE taxes.

In Europe the console is 299/349 € AFTER taxes which vary from 19 up to 25%, so Nintendo gets less money per console in Europe than in the US.

@Chark: With WiiU, Nintendo has two routes to drive costs down: through the console and through the Gamepad. With the Gamepad the route is mostly the same as every handheld (cost of LCDs, battery, etc) and with the handheld it's like every console (cost of RAM chips, the 8/32GB of NAND, the CPU and GPU, etc.)

Interesting if true...

"Well after spending some time with the 720 beta kit, I must say that most will be happy, but some of the hardcore guys will probably be really disappointed"

http://www.rage3d.com/board/showpost.php?p=1337123324&postcount=32

Intersting because the Rage3D forum have PC top hardcore gamers... so anything less than 7970/680 power is disppointed... now a crossplataform hardcore gamer can be happy with a 7850 or less.