I mean, i'm not saying Sony will abandon the platform. They clearly won't as their current situation allows them to keep selling Vitas for a long, long time, but I don't see the sales taking off no matter what they put in it right now because it's selling incredibly low for one entire year and the situation, sales-wise, keeps getting worse as time goes on. I used the Wonderswan as a comparison in how even having great games(Wonderswan had exclusive Final Fantasy remakes!) with a incredibly low price($59) AND amazing portable hardware(SNES-quality graphics in 1999, it could compete graphics-wise even with the GBA and lasted more than 20hrs on a single AA battery) cannot sell handhelds. If the Vita, successor of the PSP, which sold more than 70M units, couldn't outsell a handheld that was against the Game Boy and was the first take in handheld gaming from a company that didn't worked with videogames, then it would be absolutely impossible for it to recover.

Well, they have the same problem, both consoles; their aim. So its hard to say, I think that Vita can pull ahead for some weeks but overall the Wii U should remain ahead, but only by a small amount. I think people are faulty in their assumptions that; a: Wii U can turn everything around with new games, its simply a software problem (hint, its not) and, b: its the 3DS all over again and it will bounce back and top charts (or even move significant numbers at all in the near future).

The Vita faces the exact same problem, its not mainly about games, its about the product itself, its aiming right down between two markets and is hitting neither, this is the reason why both are selling poorly, not price, not software and not lack of ad campaigns (the Wii had practically no advertisement).

Now, if the Vita starts outselling the Wii U on a regular basis, some things are bound to happen. One is that Nintendo must get their shit together (allthough there is a very limited amount of options for them now since the whole machine is a mistake in essence) and a lot of people in here will have trouble remaining active.
The sole comfort for many Wii U fans now is that it "at least outsells the Vita", if that were to change, the forums could become unbearable for some.

My heart isn't really in this though, either way. I never enjoyed handhelds (save for one, the Atari Lynx) so I couldn't care less about the Vita and I haven't seen much incentive to own a Wii U in the near future either (or a PS4 or xbox 720 for that matter).

The question you should be asking is "Will the 3DS outsell the Vita this year?" Don't compare handhelds to consoles, it's silly. They're on totally different levels. The Wii U isn't doing as many would hope (even though it's just about on point with the Wii's original sales) because there aren't any blockbuster/system seller games yet. Let's be honest Nintendo consoles take off when Nintendo games are released on the console. Third parties are essential and needed but Nintendo is usually the one to say "Here's what we can do with our console, now let's see what everybody else can do." No other company usually matches Nintendo's software on Nintendo consoles but they usually do well. So in short, expect the Wii U to take off after a 3D mario, HD Zelda, Mario Kart, and Super Smash Bros.(Which I can't wait for) The Wii U has great potential and I think it's the fact that people just talk trash about it without even having played the console. It's way better than Wii and I know it will do well.

To be honest the Wii-u wont even be the best selling wii device sold at christmas... I am pretty confident that the wii will outsell it this year. Hype for the Wii-u is pretty dreadful. It can change with just a few games that the nintendo fans really want, but its a question of if they have a big game or a game that is just mediocre. With Zelda apparently dated for 2014, it may not be until then that there is a good upswing from Nintendo fans.

I dont think a price cut is on the table for the wii-u until at least late in the year. They cannot make the same mistake they did with the DS otherwise they will just damage their brand going forward (i.e dont buy it early because it will only drop in price in a few months - which you dont want people believing will happen).

Say what again?

@Scisca

Yes, you heard correct. Comparing the two in the November-January sales period the Wii U did 3 Million and the Wii Did around 3.5-3.9 Million if my sources are correct. Not to mention that it's doing almost as well without a Zelda game to launch alongside it like the Wii had. The Wii was doing so well because the best games came out one after another, Zelda: Twilight Princess, then Super Mario Galaxy, then Super Smash Bros. That was one heck of a lineup and I expect to see Wii U sales improve after the next installments in these series listed above arrive. Nobody's gonna buy a box with stupid games on it. Nintendo Land and New Super Mario Bros. U are brilliant but far from being system sellers.

Dude, Wii hasn't reached the current Wii U level until 2012. The only reason the numbers are still quite simmilar is because Wii experienced huge shortages, while Wii U, well... It sold what it had to sell first two weeks, but is pretty much collecting dust in stores right from the start. Wii U hasn't sold 3 million so far and won't even reach that level in the next 2 months. Wii was selling 8-9 times more every single week in January and February. You can't compare these consoles and their performances! Face the facts, you're trying to compare the Wii U to a massive hit that was the Wii, while in reality it's selling 50% worse than the "dead" Vita was at that point!

New Super Mario Bros. U isn't a system seller? Do you even know anything about gaming? Wii didn't sell because of SMG, Zelda or SSBB. It sold because of the novelty and Wii Sports. New Super Mario Bros. Wii sold 26.65 million copies - as much Twilight Princess, SMG and SSBB all combined, even though it was released years later. Only Wii Sports, Mario Kart Wii, Wii Sports Resort and Wii Play sold more, so considering bundling of 3 of those titles with necessary hardware, it was the second best selling regular game on the Wii - if that isn't a system seller, I don't know what is. Wii U has a New Super Mario Bros. U and still the sales are devastating. You can't compare Wii U to its predecesor in any single way, cause Wii was massive, while Wii U makes Vita sales look good.

hopefully, and probably..

Wii u sales will drop drasticly as the nexgen systems are gradually unvealed

The Vita had awesome bundles at Christmas, better than this price drop and it still barely moved. It will help bit the WiiU will come out on top.