Sony slashing jobs, leaving unprofitable businesses

[Dodece]

First I would like to take issue with the statement that the PS3 has lost Sony three billion dollars. This is simply wrong either your misinformed or misinterpreting the data. The PS3 has lost somewhere between five to six billion dollars. Sony has done an enviable job however of playing the shell game. From taking out seven hundred million dollar loans against the console to hiding it behind the profit margins found in the PS2 and the PSP. To even sliding one massive profitable studio from one division to another.

The console was a money pit, is a money pit, and will always be a money pit. This console has bled Sony good, and it will continue to bleed Sony. Even more damnable the BluRay player isn't exactly a dominant economic force. Sony won a war, but has lost so much in doing so it has to taste as bitter as defeat. More to the point the console cannot even sufficiently move Sony's own software. For every success there was a major defeat, and Sony is in the hole as a publisher.

I find it disconcerting how secure some posters feel about the prospects of the PS3 by proclaiming Sony must support this product so that they can have a forth. After all third parties will hold it against them if they discontinue this console. Hello where have you been for the past two years. They already hold Sony in low regard that is why they are blessing Microsoft so damn much. Sony went and did what these third party developers expressly asked them not to do, and all Sony did was give them a dirty look.

Beyond that why the hell would Sony be interested in going a second round next generation. This generation was a blood letting, and next generation they will have two powerful, and emboldened competitors that have cash repositories like Fort Knox. Which is totally ignoring the fact that this economic crisis is going to leave Sony very much crippled. They will not be the company they once were.

There is a saying in life if you can't beat them join them. Well whether you like it or not that is an entirely viable solution for Sony. Software is safer then hardware with its tight margins, and highly competitive nature. There is absolutely nothing wrong with playing it safe. In fact it would keep the number of rivals they have to deal with down. The BluRay player might have been a huge hit had Sony not been competing with Microsoft and Nintendo. Which ensured that the technology could not find its way into either console.

I am not saying the PS3 is going to be discontinued. What I am saying is that it is hardly impervious, invincible, or safe. This console is a drastic drain on Sony, and as time goes by it is less relevant for Sony to continue production. No it is not short sighted it is common sense. Why kill the innocent to protect the guilty. Killing off this particular product alone could make the division extremely healthy, and if they started porting their games to the other consoles they would start to see a lot of positive results. This division would be a glowing white spot were it not for the PS3 sucking up all the profit into its black void.

Don't tell me it is safe, because it sure as hell isn't, and do not tell me it would be a mad move, because you personally would not like it. That is the catch there isn't it a lot of posters just do not care what happens to Sony. They care about what happens to them. Well guess what life isn't fair sometimes your going to lose, and if you cannot afford to lose. Then you probably shouldn't play.