Can I get a source on that info please?

Wow. I haven't been paying super close attention to HW sales, no idea it was that low.

And that's shipped. not sold to consumers.

Have to sell a high volume of units to be able to realize good cost reductions.

1) Existing Inventroy: If they projected to sell 9 million then it's fairly possible they built up a large inventory of parts at last year's prices.  Can't "cost reduce" inventory, or ordered parts, because they're already paid for.

2) Design costs need to be ammortized over many units.  Spinning new parts, new fabrication lines, etc. aren't cheap.  Partners want commitment for high volumes (e.g. 10 million parts) to get good pricing.  All this could be affecting ability to realize cost reductions at the volume Wii U is selling.

I believe that it is quite possible that Nintendo could hit their forecast of shipments by years end and that they are playing it safe in order to give off the appearance of success if the console move 5-6mill by March 2015. We'll have to see how MK8 and Smash perform but I can see Wii U sales doubling the previous holiday with the lineup they will have for this season.

I am not sure if surrender/white flag is the best analogy. I look at it as they have realized its not going to become a hit console. Even with big games like MK8/SSB launching it will do what it has done for two years now, but its not dying yet... just not growing either.

So its still bad, really bad. But Nintendo knows to not expect growth from this generation. Just sad they didn't see this last year like most of us did.

That's embarrassing. This is the worst performing console Nintendo has ever made. Even though Nintendo has produced some pretty excellent wiiu games, I've always had the feeling that they're not putting everything into these games.... They feel a bit.... Cheap. As much as I loved 3d world, it's a step back from the mario 64 days, and galaxy games.

I don't beleive that they're going to abandon the wiiu, but I don't beleive they will bring anything truly epic either. Like I said about 3d world... It's a fun game, I loved it. But to me, that style of mario is better suited to their handheld. I loved a link between worlds, but I don't want a variation of it on wiiu.

I also get the feeling that with Nintendo admitting the wiiu is a huge failure, they may choose to halt production on any large budget games they may have been producing. The next Zelda on wiiu, I beleive, will be something more along the lines of a link between worlds. I will buy it, and enjoy it. But I will also be disappointed. I want a Zelda like the demo they showed. What I don't understand about Nintendo is: why show a demo of Zelda, even the GameCube demo, that had an edgy, dark, more realistic look to it, only to release something nothing like the demo? They chose that style and look for the demo because it would create a buzz, and look exciting... It certainly got people talking about it.

And next, the wiiu tablet controller. Get rid of it. There isn't one game that 100% requires it. There isn't one game that uses it in any innovative way whatsoever. The price of the console can't come down, partly, because that controller costs the same now as it did at launch. I doubt the screen can be made cheaper. It's not like a cpu, and cannot be shrunk, unless they physically make it smaller, with a smaller screen. Dump that controller, and sell the wiiu for no more than $200, and if possible, sell it for $149. The tech inside the wiiu is old. The system itself is very cheap to produce.

As far as lifetime sales go, I honestly cannot convince myself that the wiiu will even hit 14 million. Nintendo was/is very lazy with the wiiu. With the 3ds, they came out with some seriously kick ass games, and clearly put in a massive effort to make that system a success.. They're coming up on 2 years for the wiiu and have basically done squat. They released a remake of wind waker, they released a game that was already designed for the GameCube, pikmin 3, and a mario game that seemed to be developed in parallel with the 3ds mario 3d land... Nothing new, no effort.

I am a Nintendo fanboy, to a certain degree... With the 3ds, they've done nothing but please me... I love the 3ds, and with it, that have made it my favorite handheld of all time. With the wiiu, they've made me regret buying a Nintendo home console for the first time, and have done nothing to please me. As of now, I don't beleive they will release x on wiiu, and after whatever Zelda turns out to be, and mario kart and smash, And bayo, they won't release another title on it.

Sorry for the long post, I just had to get that off my chest.

So it looks like my bold predictions are not so bold anymore:

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=182130&page=1#

Wii U WILL sell less than 9 million copies this year that's more or less mathematical certainty at this point AND

Wii U will probably be discontinued in 2015 as I predicted.

No way it's being discontinued in 2015. What would they have to replace it with?

2016 they enter a "phase out" era with a, perhaps spring, launch of a new handheld (which will have given 3DS a solid 5-year run) which is fully cross-compatible with Wii U games by being as strong as the U. The handheld subs as the gamepad allowing them to sell through the last wave of Wii U's as gamepad-free, and then launch a "successor" which just up-rezzes the handheld games.

I don't see WiiU being discontinued in 2015 .. didn't Gamecube go on until 2007???