Oh, ok, 16m does ring a bell now that you mention it, I forgot most estimates used to put the Vita at 15 or 16m!

Depends on how you define your metric of success. According to VGC WiiU sold more units — barely, but more. If that is final, then this can be an answer.

If we look more into detail, the Vita was home to a lot of very unique japanese titles. As Sony didn't follow up with another handheld these games and often also their successors eventually made their way to the Switch.

WiiU while it had abysmal hardware sales, had some very great games that showed on Switch their sales potential. Splatoon, Mario Maker and especially Mario Kart 8 were massively successful games, which by far outshined their original release platform.

In the end both their market shares got assimilated by the Switch. Their gaming legacy lives on there.

No

Sadly this is the best reply to this question.

It terms of actual numbers, that's a big unknown. Nobody knows exactly how much the Vita sold. Estimates are in the 10-15 million range, so it was somewhat close. They were both failures, though. But while Nintendo took another stab at the general idea of "You can natively play on TV or in handheld mode" and eventually landed on the idea of a "hybrid" system, which became the very successful Switch, Sony completely abandoned handhelds after the Vita and did not create an immediate successor, and probably considered the PSP a fluke (which it kinda was, as it was the only non-Nintendo handheld to ever be a huge success). I'd consider it a "strategic victory" (for lack of a better phrase) for Nintendo since they kept going and learned from their mistakes while Sony just gave up and focused entirely on home consoles instead of immediately trying for another handheld.

To be fair to Sony, though, they did eventually make the PS Portal for the PS5, which is conceptually similar to the Wii U controller (and as of the end of 2025 it had a 7% attach rate to the PS5 in the U.S. according to NPD/Circana, which isn't bad for a $200 optional accessory), and according to the rumor mill the PS6 will have a Switch-like "hybrid" SKU, which if true means they'll have a "kinda-but-not-officially-but-technically-yes" handheld that can be docked for TV play. So, they do understand that having handheld play of some kind is still something popular and viable, even if a "traditional" handheld doesn't appear to be in the cards. In fact, the only "traditional" handheld we've had from anybody since the 3DS/Vita era was the Switch Lite, which is only 17% of the Switch's LTD sales, or about a third of what the 3DS sold, so most people really do want their handhelds to be able to connect to the TV these days.

I think the one thing to compare them is the only market where both were relevent: japan.

now the vita was clearly visable and alive in japan, but on the other hand, it was basically doomed to second place niche status the moment the 3DS dropped to 170$ and sony couldn't afford to do so. vita was the clear loser of the handheld race in japan.

meanwhile things arn't so clear cut for the wii U VS ps4. sure, the ps4 was selling 30% more on average, and the wii U got a 18 month head start. however, install base wise, the two have been fairly close across thier lifespans, thanks to smash, mk8, and (the really big one) splatoon being a breakout massive hit. its to the point that, if you look at japanese charts for ps4 vs wii U LTD, the wii U only got defeated by the ps4 in LTD on the month the switch was announced.

strategically, the wii U's the clear winner. the goodwill generated by the wii U support VS the lack of it via the vita. there is also the fact that you have to consider, sony ababndoning the vita pretty much resulted in the switch taking over the market share that the vita used to occupy. and thus, you could say that sony's failing of the vita and then abandonment of the portable space only increased NINTENDO's install base in the long run, feeding the switch with the players that enjoyed the psp and then vita for what it was, a powerful portable.

Yeah Nintendo stuck with the Wii U to a greater extent than you'd expect for such an unsuccessful console, while Sony hit the abort button when Vita sales went south.

The two are kinda opposites in a way; Vita had great hardware but first party support quickly disappeared, while the Wii U was kinda terrible hardware but punched above its weight in first party games with the likes of Mario Kart 8, Splatoon, BOTW, etc.