Compare it to the support Nintendo gave the 3DS then (if you dont want to compare to the PSP).

Sony could have done lots more. God of War, Ape escape are two that imediatly pop to mind. A second Uncharted never happened aswell even though the original sold well.

154 -> 45

And I reckon it gets the most support because it has always been the dominant platform of the handheld gaming market. Obviously, Nintendo is putting more support into it than Sony is with the Vita, but clearly there is a tradeoff considering that Wii dropped off around 3DS's first year, and Wii U is struggling. Its honestly even less valid than PSP vs Vita. Vita released during a Sony stuggling with PSP Go debacle and PS3. Nintendo released the 3DS off of the NDS XL and Wii, hugely different circumstances. And its clear that even the mighty 3DS has been smacked down by mobiles.

Why support something consumers are not going to buy? Sony didn't abandon the Vita, they supported it, they marketed it and no one bought it. The customers spoke with their wallets.

The only people who say Sony abandoned the Vita are the owners themselves who want more support because they like the system and the others just jump on the bandwagon in the forums.

Sony is doing the smart thing with the Vita, not wasting tons of cash on it. Even if they did, consumers wouldn't buy it anyways. They tried, reception was weak, move on.

@Dr_Henry: This 

Hey, you win some you lose some. Nintendo's U isn't doing so hot either. Everyone hits a stride sometimes. It is impossible to always know what stride you'll hit. Like the early computer wars, Apple was it for some time, then it got lost and then it came back with more or less failures and successes to boot. If you believe that every game company can make anything successful then you have ebola.

Irregardless of what blood_tears said, which I kind of agree with, I'd need to see Vita's support yearly compared with itself. Declining support would provide believable evidence of "abandonment", whether or not its smart. The degree is another important factor.
Consistent or increasing support would more or less contradict this assertion.

The argument that the Vita competing agasinst smartphones has nothing to do with support. So, the Vita had much stiffer competition, so Sony allowed it to roll over and die?

The Wii U was doing arguably worse than the Vita, and Nintendo managed to salvage it through steady quality software, something Sony didn't bother with. Sony was/is more interested in bringing software to the PS3/PS4 exclusively, and while that may be where the money is, it was a slap in the face to the millions of Vita owners. Sony promised us great games, and then left us stranded when the competition got fierce. 

The 3DS had to deal with intense competition as well, and now look where it is. It is doing fine on its own.

Salvage it? Wii U pratically had the same number of releases this year as it did, it was only thanks to MK8 that it was pulled up. A game that has no equivalent on the Vita. And if the Wii U was doing worse than the Vita in its free year on the market, then really I don't see how Nintendo supported it more.

The 3DS is a terrible place for a handheld if we were to compare it to its predeccessors. I mean part of the reason 3DS could share so many games with its home bretheren was cause the Wii was in a good place. The PS3 was not in a good place. And considering how the 3DS is affecting the Wii U, suggesting that Sony treat the Vita like Nintendo treated the 3DS as the expense of the PS3 is insanity. Especially for at what best amounts to a sub 50 million handheld consumer base. Realistically, 23 million considering the preportion of the NDS and 3DS. Wii U level peformance on a system as costly as the PS3 is more than enough to eliminate PlayStation at best and flat out bankrupt the company at worst. But that is all besides the point.

I admit, I haven't owned a handheld gaming device since the GBASP, so I'm not as informed but, really I can't see how anything other than comparing the levels of support between the years of the vita's launch can provide any valid comparision on what we determine as adequacy of support.

They gave up on it mostly. But continue to slightly support it for the PR and hope PS4 sales make it improve slightly.

Hardware sales of the handheld is terrible. Only Japan is keeping it from being a 100% disaster. It also recieved far far far less support than the 3DS in the early days and struggles of 3DS.