Is it even possible to have a profit margin that low in economically strong years? That is not a sign of a well-run company. Smartly run businesses keep their profit margins as high as possible, only lowering them when a potential risk-to-rewards evaluation on a new product turns up an adequately low-to-high ratio that they can realistically invest in it and expect it to up profits. The only time you ever break from that strategy is when you want to introduce a phenomenally high-risk-high-reward item, in which case you need to look into a comprehensive risk-reduction strategy like Blue Ocean to ensure your product has a good chance of success.
From the looks of it, Sony is maintaining a lot of deadweight products that are driving their profits down. Either that, or their cost-to-price ratio is absurdly close to 1, in which case they really should consider either raising prices or (if the market won't take higher prices) scaling back the level of technology being put into their products. Whatever the case may be, Sony definitely needs the help of a few good economists, business strategists, and at least a few professional accountants too. Having that kind of horrible profit margin even in a time of economic strength is a very bad sign.
Sky Render - Sanity is for the weak.
