Nikkei: Sony expected to post $1.12 billion loss

[Godot]

jcp234 said:

SlorgNet said:
We're in the midst of the worst global downturn in sixty years, so all of the major corporations are going to take a hit. Sony has creative people and very little long-term debt, so they'll be OK.

This may sound strange, but I think Microsoft is actually the most vulnerable out of the Big 3. They don't have core strengths in hardware or studio software, and their core monopoly over OS software is history. The economic crisis is going to force huge numbers of consumers to pirate or go open source, and the Mac is more than a viable alternative for folks with money. After suffering through one godawful Windoze machine after another for a decade, I recently bit the bullet and got a low-end Macbook, and was stunned at its efficiency, ease of use, versatility and quality. Apple really knows how to design things well.

It really makes me feel a certain way when I read posts like this...

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1) Microsoft has billions of dollars in cash reserves.

2) It's operating system dominance is not going anywhere anytime soon. Look how determined Microsoft is in the console market, imagine its resources and strategic drive if Microsoft ever really felt its OS dominance was in major jeopardy...

3) I am pretty sure that 95% of major businesses in the United States alone are dependent on Microsoft software. Hell, I hate Microsoft Vista, but my company (one of the big four accounting firms in the world) is migrating over to Windows Vista over the next few months.

 

4) I am not sure if this still holds true, but as far as I know, Microsoft has zero debt.

 

5) I know many users with Macs and they still have Microsoft software running on their hardware.

6) Also, Microsoft is primarily a software company, Sony is primarily a hardware company. It's common knowledge/fact that software in general brings in much higher profit margins than hardware.

I think most competent professionals will tell you that Microsoft and Sony are on two different levels. When it comes to financial stability, Sony just can't compete.

 

 

About 4: it's worse than that. Microsoft has a huge cash reserve that they didn't use to buy Yahoo...