After the price drop of the 3DS, Nintendo begun to sell the hardware at a loss. So, for every unit sold they were taking a hit in regards to profit. That should no longer be a problem though, since products become cheaper to manufacture over time. So, if they haven’t reached it already, they’re definitely close to making a profit with every sale. In the case of the 3DS XL, at least, this is the plan. They “don’t have a huge profit margin,” according to Satoru Iwata, but they do “intend to sell it for a profit”.