I really don't think consoles need to be crazy powerful. If a manufacturer can produce a console that breaks even or loses a very small amount of money on day one then it will be perfectly capable of meeting most gaming needs. As anyone in PC gaming knows, newer technology scales horribly in terms of value. Making a console a little bit more powerful will cost a lot more money.
That's the approach I think Sony should take. Microsoft, on the other hand, will likely produce a console that does everything except transform and dance in your living room, but they can easily afford to lose a larger loss per console. However, I think a lot of that price tag will go toward features that aren't necessary related to gaming, so I'm not sure that it will be a lot more "powerful".
