If in the next year sony get a clue of what makes a handheld successful, then mayb. But even then the roof for handheld success has been lowered. If Sony could sell there next system at a profit from launch then sure, 30m sales of said system will provide them with more profit then the ps3 did whole generation. Ideally it would be backwards compatible with PSVita...

Only other problem is Nintendo. If Nintendo release a wii U powered handheld system in 3 years, I don't see what room sony would have to improve on.

Isn't Vita with remote play and cross-buy already that?

Exactly! But not quite. Still, it's a step in that direction, which is why I think next gen will be defined by these sorts of fusion consoles. Microsoft will probably do something similar. Since they're trying to push an all-in-one entertainment brand, and want their tablets to sell better, and have fused the xbox division with the rest of hardware, and are working to get the same operating system for everything, I could see them doing something like that with their tablets. They'd never have to create a handheld. All of the big three will be doing something like this next gen, I think.

The truth is even in Japan it's not selling anywhere close to the PSP and it's pretty much the biggest hardware bomb in North America since the Sega Saturn or Virtual Boy (take your pick). Euro numbers are mediocre too.

My guess is no. What would a successor to the Vita even be? Low scale PS4 graphics would still be incredibly expensive ... how are developers supposed to turn a profit on such a device?

If Sony was smart they'd just make an Xperia phone with the Vita chip.

So around 20k each week is considered "not doing that bad"...well yeah if you go the exact definition it is indeed not doing bad...but it's not doing good either, especially since Japan is always called "handheld land". If the strongets market for handhelds is losing ground, what makes you think a successor will make it any different?

So no, even if the Vita keeps selling like this in Japan I don't think Sony will do a successor...Also PS Now is a big indication that Sony doesn't has plans to launch a new handheld.

Way too soon to say. It's going to depend on what legacy the Vita has that can carry over. That means growing new IP on the Vita. That's something they didn't do with the PSP and it left the Vita in a bind.

Still, though, unless Sony invests in new handheld-centric studios, I don't think a Vita successor would be a good idea. Leaving everything up to third-party co-development is too risky.

We probably still have several years of life in the Vita, however, so it's impossible to say at this point.

 GCN might of sold very low compared to almost every console made but it wasnt a big fail if nintendo made a good profit from it

It's hard to know exactly what part of their profit Nintendo made off the GameCube to be honest, they had the GBA selling like gangbusters through 2004 and then had GBA + DS picking up the slack for 2005, and then the DS exploded towards the end of 2005 in Japan.

Also in the early part of the 2000s they were making a ton of money from Pokemon merchandising too as it everywhere.

I wouldn't consider it doing well in Japan either. Sorry but right now even the 3DS isn't doing well in that market. (Given it has a large user base in said market)

My guess is firstly, no. The Vita will be the last dedicated handheld Sony makes. This may help it in a sort of way as could have nice sales on the back end as it becomes more and more affordable.

If Sony does anything next I could see them going to a smart phone with a peripheral to make it a gaming device. They could use PS Now by that point to bring all those old games to this and allow Japanese to go crazy for it as seems to be way that market is moving.