What if?... Wii U's Gamepad is unable to carry the weight of a whole platform?

What's up everyone?!  rodog818 is back in action with a radiant charge!

Here's what's up with Nintendo and Wii U in their situation:

Nintendo did the best job they could making the cheapest hardware possible to couple with their new gameplay peripheral/New Gameplay Enabler, the Wii U Game Pad, with the intent to make the console as cheap as possible to make while making their gameplay as fresh and novel as possible with the smallest pricetag possible (with the gamepad included).  Nintendo is even quoted to be taking a loss on the Wii U's MSRP.

What if that peripheral/New Gameplay Enabler simply proves unable to carry more than it's own weight in pricing?  According to CNET, Wii U sold only 57k consoles in January which is even less than the 10 year old DS.

There are many obvious and not-so-obvious risks associated with the moves Nintendo has made:

-What if the average consumer doesn't get that "must-have-it" feeling from the TV+second screen gameplay synchronicity that they DID get with the original Wii's motion controls?
My anecdotal experience: I personally saw a soccer mom rigorously explain to her son that the Utablet was inferior to the tablet device which they already owned (I don't know specifically what tablet device they owned; it could have been the iPad or even *gasp* the UDraw tablet).  The dealbreaker for me were the 60 dollar games and the 350 dollar (plus tax) console.

-What if the average consumer doesn't get the understanding that there even is a TV+second screen gameplay synchronicity?
My subjective thoughts on the matter: When I saw Wii U's commercials here in North America, I imagined being an average consumer who sees the Wii U and just sees it as simply an evolution of the Udraw tablet as opposed to the revolutionary "New Gameplay Enabler" it actually was.  At least the commercial was better than the initial 2006 North American PS3 laughing baby commercials that simply showed screenshots of games and gave out no understanding of the blu-ray capabilities and free online; please note that just because your commercials are more informative than the 2006 PS3 commercials, it does not mean that your commercial develops a clear understanding between consumer and product.

-What about the recession and smartphones and tablets giving Wii U and Nintendo a run for their money?
Some personal thoughts:  This is the first CONSOLE launch since the beginning of the recession and the rise of smartphones and tablets, most notably iPhone and iPad.  3ds has felt some sting from the rise of smartphones, but remains to be a living, breathing platform.  Playstation Vita, on the other hand, is its own example of mess-up with the only similarity it shares with Wii U is that both Wii U and Vita resemble tablets. 
If it looks like a tablet/smartphone, but doesn't act like a tablet/smartphone: some consumers will feel like they are buying a cheap imitation (I have no way of knowing if this behavior is widespread or not btw).

-Other obscure reasons
*I am sure there are many other and less popular reasons for not wanting a Wii U, but I do not feel like mentioning them.

Conclusion
-It appears that the U tablet cannot sustain its own platform, i.e. the Wii U.

Suggestions:
-Nintendo still has money in the bank, but are they willing to bet it all on saving their traditional way of doing business?  Will they just submit to iOS in the laziest way possible?  Or will something else entirely happen?  Only time will tell.
-Perhaps if the Utablet peripheral was the platform itself and attached to an iPad, a PC, or something (with proprietary software, proprietary USB Wiimote docks, proprietary USB WiiUblu-ray drive, etc.); I feel that even though the likes of THQ could not sustain UDraw HD (with licensed games, too ugh such a bad idea that was) that does not mean that the likes of Nintendo could not sustain their own peripheral on a hugely popular device with a diverse install base such as the iPad.
-Perhaps consoles and PC's are outdated and we are all heading into a general purpose iOS/Android/Windows8X world where the only "boxed software products" will be sold alongside peripherals (I personally consider the steambox and Ouya a peripheral and nothing else really).  Seriously, you could call Blizzard PC games their own platform because the boxed software is the "box" and the subscription is the "content restriction".  Consoles are losing, handhelds are losing, PC is trucking along, smartphones are winning (but not total unless you feel Apple, Google, and Rovio are the "total" lol), and tablets are winning (Only apple though really lol).  I do feel that the gaming future is still bright though (in general, of course specific parties won't be happy to lose money on the changes they'll be forced to adapt to)


Please feel free to divulge your thoughts on this matter.

Thanks for viewing!  rodog_818 will always be the one with the 411.
Peace yo