NJ5 said:
Looking at the wider picture now...
While a lot of the things going bad for Sony are out of its control (exchange rates, recession), Sony hasn't been a robust or well managed company for years.
Besides the already mentioned lack of cash cows, they have been accepting low profit margins, high debt and a low cash reserve (for their size), for the sake of expansion and risky investments (PS3, Blu-Ray). They almost only have premium products, and they keep a financial division around which invests in the stock market, having just the same weaknesses as their other divisions. Where was their margin of safety?
Granted, a lot of other companies are suffering too, but many do have a bigger safety margin. Sony will be forced to restructure a lot in a short-term period, and I sincerely can't imagine what they'll do to turn the company around. All I know is it will have to be big.
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A lot of companies have been no different in the good times imo.
We are seen a lot of evidence of this in Ireland recently where our own economy is going belly up.
