Can Hannah Montana save the PSP in 2009?

The PSP is in trouble. And Sony has decided the answer is girls.

In a press release from its "Destination Playstation" event for retailers today, Sony said its handheld console has a "rapidly growing install base" and is "riding a wave of momentum," something anybody who has looked at the numbers knows isn't true. Worldwide sales last quarter were down 8% at 5.08 million. Domestically in 2008, sales were virtually flat in the U.S., according to NPD, at 3.8 million. So, yes, the install base is technically growing, but this isn't exactly a wave of momentum, especially compared to, say, Nintendo's DS, which saw sales grow 17% in the U.S. from a much bigger lead, putting it at almost double the PSP's install base.

PSP Software sales are also slowing, down 7% worldwide in the third quarter.

Sony's announcements that are getting the most attention, unsurprisingly, are PSP versions of "LittleBigPlanet," "Assassin's Creed," and "Rock Band." If they're executed well, those games could sell with the core gamer crowd, most of whom already have PSPs and have been begging for better software. "LittleBigPlanet" may face challenges, given how poorly it has sold for PS3. It's also worth keeping in mind that "Assassin's Creed" for the DS sold only 126,000 units, according to NPD. Nonetheless, that and "Rock Band" will, at a miminimum, get the attention of the big spending core gamers who have mostly ignored the system since last March's "God of War: Chains of Olympus."

But if Sony wants real growth, it has to compete for the audience that has so far ignored the PSP (and the PS3 for that matter) -- everyone besides young men. Which is why the biggest news today by far is its partnership with Disney for a new PSP-exclusive "Hannah Montana" game and hardware pack, which will include a pink PSP, the game, and "Hannah Montana" episodes on UMD (coming in July; pre-order at GameStop now!).

In addition, Sony has lured Ubisoft to make PSP versions of its "Petz" games, which are really popular with younger female gamers.

Sony is not being subtle about its goals, stating explicitly in the release that it's making a "push toward teen and 'tween' girl gamers."

And why not? To broadly stereotype, girls love their cell phones and they're a sizable portion of the DS demo. They're the lowest hanging fruit out there.

Drawing Disney into the PSP fold with one of its biggest tween girl franchises (save for "High School Musical") undoubtedly cost Sony something. There's a reason, after all, that past "Hannah Montana" games have been on DS, Wii and PS2. In fact, as this IGN compilation shows, Disney Interactive has only made two games for the PSP ever. Compare that to 24 on the DS. Given that Disney has had huge success making games based on "Hannah Montana," "High School Musical," "Kim Possible" and other licenses aimed squarely at girls, those numbers says a lot about what it thinks of the PSP audience.

In other words, Disney surely isn't doing this because it thinks it can sell lots of games and UMD episodes. But "Hannah Montana" could be a great draw for Sony to sell more PSPs to a new demo. Given who receives most of the benefits, I think we know who's funding most of the costs.