After much speculation (and the announcement of their next console) Nintendo have confirmed that production on the Wii U will be ending in the coming months.
No exact timing was announced, but it was clarified by Nintendo Representatives:
“As recently posted by Nintendo on the Wii U website in Japan, Wii U production will end in the near future for the Japanese domestic market. We have nothing to announce in terms of exact timing.
We can confirm that as of today, all Wii U hardware that will be made available in the North American market for this fiscal year has already been shipped to our retail partners. We encourage anyone who wants Wii U to communicate with their preferred retail outlet to monitor availability.”
The news comes after Nintendo's denial (just last week) that Wii U production was ending, with one representative quoted as saying "even though the Nintendo Switch is slated to go on sale, Wii U production is scheduled to continue." Its another strange PR blunder for Nintendo, who have struggled to find their footing in some PR areas for some time now with mixed messages across multiple platforms.
It really isn't much of a surprise with the Nintendo Switch coming in March of 2017, but the fact that Nintendo have been so secretive with it is puzzling.