With Vita being such a big add-on for PS4 and having the ability to build off this hype for PS4 as well as having more time to work out hardware kinks and maybe add some extra power I don't see why Sony didn't release it till AFTER PS4 so they could have some serious hype even without standout software.

surprised people chose 2011 the most they probably just wanted it to release that date so they can compare with 3ds more precisely

I voted "never." If Vita came out this past year alongside PS4 it would've been COMPLETELY overshadowed, and would have made it look like Sony was trying to copy Nintendo (yet again) with the second screen controller option the same way they ripped off the Wii with Move.

Yes, I'm sure the idea came to them the second the wiiu was revealed. No plans before whatsover and let's pretend remote play never existed before and that Ninty is the only company that innovates. I mean come on, dude. Ninty is a great company with great innovations but they are no god. Not everything is a Ninty ripoff. 

Vita should have never been released... They should have just made all those games for the ps3/ps4

2011/2012 was OK for it being released. The only Vita problem is the lack of high budget games. There is no Monster Hunter, no Final Fantasy, no Kingdom Hearts, no God of War, Infamous, Gran Turismo, Bioshock was anounced for it, but the game didnt even existed(only few ideas).

Sony was focusing on PS3 when Vita was released and now the company is focused on the PS4. That means a lot.

The sudden hype for the PS4 would have been impossible to predict this time a year ago, so planning to launch the Vita this year to coincide with the new console doesn't make sense.

No but that's exactly how the PS4 would have been viewed if both it and the Vita were unveiled and released in tandem as companions to one another, since the Wii U and its "tablet' controller would have been already known about for well over a year at the time, almost two going all the way back to its initial unveiling in 2011.  The Vita would have been viewed as just a gimmick rather than standing out on its own.

... And it's better for 7 million Vita owners that it does exist.

Meh, it's carving out a nice niche in Japan. Sony doesn't seem to be pumping much money into the handheld so they might be making a profit on it. I would also be a very unhappy gamer if it never existed.