This is fine with me. It's been a long-time coming, and will slightly boost interest in the Wii whilst reducing costs.
So they've cut the GameCube support. It's likely that they've also switched out some of the internal hardware for more current/cheaper alternatives. The amount of energy consumed is likely smaller, and it's possible that, since the hardware remains the same size, they've reduced the size of the power brick, moving (some of) it into the system itself.
If this saves them money, tides the Wii over, and keeps the brand strong until Wii U hits shelves, then that's great. Usually Nintendo consoles die off completely in their last year.