Excellent research.
Sony is indeed in a dire situation. Talks of bankruptcy are very premature (the comapny has sufficient capatial). That said, they have to return to profitability ASAP.
Sony is a huge business that spans diverse product lines. From movie studios to walkmans. The gaming division used to carry Sony in the glory days of the PS2 but it is losing money for several years now. Big money. This year the gaming division will be responsibile for about a $Billion in loses. Perhaps more with the dismal performance of Sony's 1st party games this quarter.
At some point someone will start asking the tough questions. "Why are we willing to take such loses? Setting aside the nostalgic sentiments for the success of the PS2, do we have any propspect of making money in the gaming business?"
The answers don't look good. Not only that Sony will never recover its loses on the PS3, getting to profitability in any given quarter is also questionable. The cost structure of the PS3 is just too high, the install base is too small to justify the costs of their gaming studios, the currency exchange rates are killing their revenues and the competition and economic situation positions them as a "luxery, high priced item".
Another year of red-ink might force Sony to exit the market.
Prediction made on 11/1/2008:
Q4 2008: 27M xbox LTD, 20M PS3 LTD . 2009 sales: 11M xbox, 9M PS3
