The biggest problem is that Nintendo made a console that was never going to drop in price because the manufacturing for it was already mature. There were no gains to make. The PS4 had a better chance of getting cheaper than the Wii U. Nintendo should never have used 10 year old technology to make a new console.
Quote
Regardless, it's only natural to be curious about where all that green went. CNN Money wanted to dig a bit deeper, so it had UMB TechInsights tear down a Wii U and estimate the cost of the individual parts. The GamePad alone is valued at $79.25, while the main console comes to $148.25, resulting in an approximate total of $228. You'll notice that's less than the $300 MSRP for the Basic Set.CNN estimates the cost of Wii U's parts to be $228