Well what you said was worded in a weird way. You say doesnt cost much to make, but a MSRP of 300 USD is still generaring losses

Most consoles start off selling at a loss, this one looses less. And if it's just today that they said it, then Maybe I haven't seem everything yet. 

I have a sneaking suspicion New Super Mario Bros. 3 will be coming for the 3DS this holiday season too (from the NSMB2 team).

I think they will milk some of their core franchises pretty hard the next year or two (another Pokemon this year too) to try and squeeze as much profit as possible especially on the 3DS.

1- They do have a ¥160bn in inventory. If half of that are Wii Us, than they don't really have to produce anything this year (if their forecast is right).

2- Dropping the gamepad may also be plausible. I enjoy mine, but it is surely not helping. Even if they keep selling at zero profit after taking the gamepad, they would be able to sell more units and move more software.

3- They do have a good 3DS software line for this year, but it could use some improvement. For now they have:
Tomodachi Life (sure hit japan, risky on west)
Pokemon Ruby/Shappire Remake
MH 4 (early 2015, it may make it into this fiscal year)
Super Smash
Persona Q
Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright on West
One Piece: Unlimited World Red on West (Not sure this is as important, but i like it)

There are other games, but not as relevant.

4- If all Wii U exclusive games expected for 2014, do come this year to the west, its situation should improve:
Hyrule Warriors (Set for Japan Summer)
Bayonetta 2 (Set for Japan Summer)
Sonic Boom
Monolith's X
Super smash Bros
Watch Dogs (Selling poorly or not, it does improve Wii U library)

5- I do think they can profit if they make a good case as a second console, because this seems as a very weak year for the HD twins. For that, Wii U needs to accessible (as cheap as it can, thats why dropping the pad and still selling at loss/zero profit) and they will not risk so much towards gameplay with their main IPs, like they did on Skyward Sword (they are already doing that, that's why the pad is not necessary)

Sell the Wii U for $199 and $$$$$$.

If they've already got a glut of Wii Us sitting in inventory, then presumably they've also manufactured the gamepads to go with each console ... which may be a pretty big reason why they won't drop the game pad. 

I also think Nintendo wants to take a crack at this NFC market, even if it is oversaturated, and the game pad with the NFC reader is probably integral to those plans. 

I think Nintendo's game plan now is to switch from having the Wii U gain a large userbase, but now to milk as much money off the small number of Nintendo fans who do buy in. So no price cuts for hardware, and probably a push for existing Wii U owners to buy NFC toys. 

How will taking a massive loss on hardware help them make more money? If they're still losing money at 299$, 199$ would bleed them completely and they're not even guaranteed high sales at a lower price.

CNN estimates that the Wii U manufactures for $228 a unit.
http://www.destructoid.com/cnn-estimates-the-cost-of-wii-u-s-parts-to-be-228-249435.phtml

This article is a year old so I imagine the parts are even cheaper now. If they sold at $199 they would only be taking a small hit while selling millions more.

I second this

Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Bros 4, X, Bayonetta 2, Pokemon Omega Ruby & Pokemon Alpha Sapphire, QoL product, Kirby Triple Deluxe, Youkai Watch 2, Pokken, Fatal Frame U, Hyrule Warriors, Tecmo Koei collaboration, and other unannounced factors might make them begin to believe in posting profits next year.