Nintendo World Report published an email allegedly from David Marshall, a Nintendo customer service representative that explains how Nintendo will be unifying the Wii U and 3DS eShops. I can't believe Nintendo hasn't thought of this sooner, but hey, better late than never, right?
The email from Mr. Marshall says thus:
A unified account system will be implemented later this year with the launch of the Wii U," he wrote. "Eventually this same account system will be made compatible with Nintendo 3DS systems. At this time we have no additional details to offer and nothing to indicate how or if this will work outside the United States and Canada. In the meantime, if the system has a problem, taking it to an Authorized Service Center will maintain the Nintendo eShop account. If the system is stolen, we can transfer the account to a new system once we are provided with a valid police report.
As of this writing, Nintendo itself has neither confirmed nor denied the information in this email, and they have neither confirmed nor denied that David Marshall wrote this email. I'm not getting a Wii U (but that could always change, I admit), but I really hope this is true just for Nintendo's sake. I'd love to see them make a user-friendly, smart business decision.