At $299 I think the 360 will outsell the PS3 in NA for the end of the year, but still be outsold slightly WW. I doubt however, after the gaming division being profitable, that they would let the 360 maintain the $299 price without a $50 price drop in response.
I am almost certain that the 80gb Core will be less costly to produce than the 40gb, since the plan all year was to shrink both the RSX and the cell, so I would assume the 80gb with a $50 price drop would put the PS3 in the same hardware loss situation it is in now with the 40gb, with the biggest PS3 titles of the year being Sony developed and produced and software sales in general picking up, I think they could manage this and still be profitable (in the gaming division as a whole).
Without a price drop and the XBox360 dropping to $299 permanently I think its very easy to see the 360 will slap the PS3 around this holiday season in NA.
