I think really what happened, is the look of the Gamecube turned people off. But it was very impact resistant. Like these two videos show. The second video is in Spanish, but you can fast forward it to the destruction test of the consoles and see who wins.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhQNojWjYc4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVRJtqPRZ...re=related

Well that and perhaps the lack of game titles aimed at a mature audience. The GameCube did indeed have some good M -T Rated games as but they weren't enough to save it from it's stereotypically "kiddy console" appearance.

This is the same problem that the DS seemed to face at the start, but then people realized that while the games were not exactly targeted at a mature audience, they were still fun and worth playing. Unfortunately, it was too late for the GameCube...Plus it lacked online play (only offered it for like two games if I remember correctly) which was another major downside.

Right on the button GaMeR.
If more parents had bought for there kids, it might would have saved them. I forgot where i found it, but I saw a US sales chart for the Cube PS2 and Xbox.