I don't expect a price drop within a year because I expect the system to sell fine without it. Why drop the price?

How did Sony not recover from losing the monster hunter franchise? Is it because it's now on the Wii? You do know that franchise never sold more then 500k copies on the ps2 right? The big 3rd party loss for Sony this gen was Final Fantasy, but that seems to coming back as an exclusive on ps4. They also managed to build quite a few new AAA franchises this gen.   

At the rate the Wii U is selling it really won't take very long for the real next gen consoles to catch up. Problem with the Wii U is not just in numbers though, the problem is that their concept isn't catching on. The tablet controller isn't as appealing to the casual gamers compared to the motion controllers of the Wii and core gamers are ignoring it because it isn't a upgrade to the ps3 or xbox that they already own. 

At the rate it's currently selling it won't take long but have a look at what's coming up for the console:

Wii Fit U
Pikmin 3
The Wonderful 101
Wind Waker HD
3D Mario
Mario Kart 8

All of the above should be out between now and Christmas, and I'm convinced that Nintendo are going to cut the price by $50 to coincide with the launch of 3D Mario in October.

You're posting as if you believe that the Wii U IS going to continue to sell at this current rate but if you really believe that given the software on the way then I suggest you go and seek professional help lol.

You've also got to consider that both the PS4 and 720's components are bound to be on a 28nm process which is going to mean a great deal of wasted silicone and cause supply constraints even before you take the higher retail prices and current financial climate into consideration.

It's very likely (imo) that the Wii U is going to have an installed userbase between 8 and 10m+ before the end of the year and the PS4 and 720 will be lucky to have an installed userbase over 2m each. Can you honestly say that you believe they can overtake the Wii U's sales..? Really..?

A 6 Million head start? No doubt, the PS3 was once behind the 360 by about 12 million units, and look how things are turning out now.

And you're not even taking in account what makes the PS4 and 720 more appealing. Which is, the exclusives. You act as if price is everything, and honestly, that's the only argument you have. "It's cheaper so people will buy, plus nintento exclusives." we get it, you love Nintendo. That doesn't mean that  Nintendo will win this gen and the other two consoles will do as horrible as the WiI U is doing right now, which is on track to sell around what? 4 - 5 million units this year at this rate, or worse. A launch console with a $400 price tag with quality exclusives, great online featues, and targeted for mature to casual audiences can easily sell 6 million units in its first yeart at least.

I'm not a Nintendo hater, I'm simply looking at their console sale's history, the Gamecube did horrible, the N64 did horrible, and the Wii won because of the gimmick. The Wii U's gimmick isn't appealing, at all. So why will it sell more? Because it's cheaper? The Gamecube was also cheaper, as was the N64. Simply put a lot of people won't buy a Wii U because everything it offers they can get on their current gen systems because of the lack of power, so what you're stuck with is a system that's comparable to current gen consoles, which most people already own. 

Now take in account the number of Nintendo lovers who will buy the console. I don't think there's enough people willing to spend $300 to play Nintendo exclusives, not enough to win a console race. Why would anyone who's not a Nintendo fan switch from PS3 or 360 to Wii U? Surely not the 1st party content since they're not Nintendo fans, and they won't switch because of the graphics either. Because lets face it, the Wii U's graphics aren't exponentially better than current Gen's, and by the time next gen truly starts and the PS4 and Xbox 720 games blow the Wii U's graphics out of the water. WHICH THEY SURELY WILL. By the way. And they're already used to their brand's exclusives, controllers, online services, and want superior graphics and gameplay. Why wouldn't they simply switch to the Xbox 720 or PS4? 

Like, for me there's nothing about the Wii U that makes me want to purchase it. I have the Wii because they're like $70 used, and the fact that the Wii U isn't selling like the Wii did, shows that the gimmick won't move units this time around, meaning that Nintendo's games will have to carry the console. Their 3rd party support is weak, and history SHOWS us that Nintendo's 1st party games cannot carry their consoles. On the other hand, Xbox has a great online system that makes it fun to play with friends, and popular exclusive FPS games that will sell units, and great third party support and superior graphics. PS4 has great exclusives, features,  third party support, and exponentially better graphics. While the Wii U has a tablet controller gimmick, and 1st party games, and a GPU uncapable of rendering UE4 and a decent online infastructure. 

Why will the Wii U win next gen if the gimmick isn't carrying the console like the Wii did?

Perhaps the entry fee for the tablet "gimmick"  as you stated many times is too high? With a price drop and some games it might do a lot better.   

Also. If you can quickly dismiss the tablet as a non factor.  Someone else could argue that the graphics leap between the ps4 and Wii u is a non factor as well. Pick some random Joe shmoes off the street and they are just as if not more likely to notice the tablet controller difference as they are the graphics difference.  

Nintendo's lack of third party support severely damaged its sales in the N64, Gamecube and Wii U. Wii sales could have been more if it had a decent third party support. Nintendo relies too heavily upon first party in house Nintendo franchises to sell its systems. Nintendo relies to much upon Mario, Mario Kart, Zelda and Smash Brothers series to sell systems.

Both Sony and Microsoft have excellent third party support. Sony has the advantage in regards to exclusive games but that has diminished from PS2 era to PS3 era with games becoming multi-platform and appearing on Microsoft's XBox 360. Microsoft has lack of exclusive game series and it relies heavily upon Halo, Gears of War, Fable and Forza series. Sony still has a lot of first and second party developers that make games exclusive for the Playstation console systems.

Their 3rd party support does leave a lot to be desired.  They really need to focus on building those relationships this gen and next. 

Nintendo Wii: 99.6mil

Sony PlayStation 3: 85.2mil

Microsoft Xbox 360: 79.7mil

Nintendo Wii U: 20.4mil

Sony PlayStation 4: 130.5mil

Microsoft Xbox 720: 90.8mil

LOL.  Wow.

the wii u doesnt have that casual pull the wii had, so all those games wont really change anything. thats the MAIN problem for nintendo right now. they can only try and get actual gamers to buy the wii u but how will they do that when not many hardcore gamers have cared for nintendo for a looong time. i dont think you get just how slow the wii u is going to keep on selling. its looking pretty clear, the wii u is going to have a rough ride and very low lifetime sales.