Saying the NX is compatible with the WiiU gamepad is not the same as saying the NX requires a gamepad. Just sayin' :o
I'm a bit confused by this though, is it only meant as a replacement if your old one breaks? Cuz surely, nothing else supports multiple gamepads at once. Or have I missed something?

I do not agree with people suggesting the Game Pad is the main reason why Wii U has failed. The main problem with Wii U is that Nintendo lost their casual market, and didn't have enough muscle on their own to capture the hard core market beyond their own most loyal fan base. In other words; Nintendo's problems with Wii U spells NOT ENOUGH QUANTITY, DIVERSITY, UNIQUENESS AND OVERALL QUALITY OF SOFTWARE (with a few exceptions).

The price of the Wii U Game Pad has nothing to do with its manufacturing costs. To be honest the stand alone Game Pad has a VERY high price tag compared to Nintendo's actual manufacturing costs.
I think Nintendo would probably be able to reduce the price of Wii U $30-$40 at the most if they threw away the Game Pad. From a business perspective it doesn't make any sense to remove the most unique feature in order to achieve such a small price reduction.

Nintendo should have pushed the Game Pad capabilities even more in excisting software, in order to achieve market success.

I wouldn't be surprised if that's related to Splatoon. Maybe there's a higher demand for GamePad replacements because people were raging in ranked mode.

I'm not suggesting that he played ranked Splatoon, but I needed an opportunity to post that gif, lol.