Make it look like a 3DS, huh? Shrewd, but why not make everything look like the 3DS, the box, the games, the ads? Maybe then people will be tricked into buying it by mistake.

On topic:

- Slash the price, and cut the price of memory cards. Advertise the price cut.

- Advertise better in general. Particularly playing down the "console quality on the go" thing. Advertise PS+ instant game collection a lot.

- Make sure they don't rush the games that are in development. We don't need another Black Ops Declassified (although, Killzone Mercenary has been in development for long enough that I think that won't happen).

- Work harder on getting the big Sony franchises to it. Gran Turismo and/or God of War next year would help massively. Uncharted Vita 2 with co-op and competitive modes would help. But more handheld-friendly titles would be better in the long run, like Patapon or Jak/Ratchet.

- Hope that whoever was employed before me had secured some third party support early. Particularly Metal Gear Solid & Grand Theft Auto.

The Q. is wat software will save it?

That could do the trick, to sell a couple million units more or so.  But is it enough? Not even Assassins Creed and Call of Duty did it sell. Heck, not even freaking PERSONA 4 could make people interested.

By this point, not even a FINAL FANTASY could turn the tide. 

179 LCD model

229 OLED model

Both have 4GB

Introduce 64GB card, lower the prices

No, it is about the price. But I don´t know if price is really the issue.

Get the big Japanese publishers (capcom, square, konami, sega) on board. Western games are nice but western devs develop so rarely for handhelds that they don't really matter. Make a GoW and GT vita. They should really already be in production to be honest. Keep investing in psmobile and new IPs like gravity rush. Give take two a little money to make sure bioshock vita still happens so that consumers will get a confidence boost in the machine. Paying for a GTA stories wouldn't hurt either. Price cut to 200 or less. 

Price still seems to be a problem, to be honest.  I think that needs fixing before anything else.

I think Grand Theft Auto has established itself better on handhelds than AC or CoD, so I think it would sell more.  If it came out in 2013 it would also ride the wave that GTA5 would create, since we haven't had a full 3D GTA game since 2008.

As much as I hoped Assassin's Creed would help Vita, realistically it's the kind of franchise that doesn't necessarily translate well to handheld play.  Call of Duty, on the other hand, could make a very good handheld game, but unfortunately it was given a 5 month development cycle and incompetent developer, so it never really stood a chance.  It's actually sold quite well for what it is, so if it had actually been a good game it may have done even better.  Equally might not have done, though.

Regardless, if Rockstar Leeds were making GTA Vita, I'm sure it would push more hardware & software than either of those titles.  Whether it would be enough to elevate Vita is another matter.

Regarding the JRPG's in your post, that's a whole other matter.  I don't think Persona 4 ever stood a chance of making people interested in Vita.  A PS2 port of an incredibly niche franchise, no matter how good it is, is bound to do bugger all in the west.  It will be one of those things, though, that if Vita were to get better support in the future, people might think "Oh, and it has Persona 4 Golden as well" and then make a purchase when they might previously have been on the fence.

Final Fantasy would help a lot more globally, simply because of brand name.  A shrinking brand name, though, so I wouldn't expect it to do wonders.

Soul sacrifice and the unannounced metal gear solid for vita can save Vita on Japan.

Western audience will be hard.
IOS, android, MOGA, Project shield, razor edge all appeal to the same market that vita focus.

Sony just isn't in the financial position to make the device extremely unprofitable when at most that will marginally improve sales. America had $200 vita bundles that included a free game and memory card, and vita sales still remained terrible, just slightly less terrible. Price isn't the main reason the vita isn't selling. (Assuming reasonable pricecuts)

Price isn't the problem at this point. The product is. The device isn't geared towards the mass market so even giving it a mass market price won't help too much. Their big chance at making it a mass market product was Black Ops Declassified. They should have absolutely made sure to work with activision to make a quality game. Sure it ended up being the best selling vita game in America, but now they have completely killed the CoD brand for the vita. 

All they can do now is keep the price the same. Just because something doesn't sell great doesn't mean it can't be profitable. Just focus on keeping the Vita profitable. Don't rush out any first party games. Have strict quality control. Wait until someone managed to develop a game that makes the vita a must own for many. Then consider lowering the price. And if the vita never gets that killer app, well at least sony minimized their losses.