Unfortunately when you are a hardware maker as big as SONY, you run a greater financial risk when times get tough. SONY still makes some of the best consumer electronics on the market, but these items are far from being essentials while profit margins are very small. I cannot vouch for there financial practices, but what they should have done to prepare for a recession such as this is apparently too late. One thing I tend to think about when companies such as SONY are in financial trouble is that how much us upper management being paid? I tend to think this was one of Apple's problems before Gilbert Amelio took over. I also remembered when Apple had to slash jobs, and their stock continously tumbled from 1995.
I've always felt that what made SONY stand out and what allowed them to be as successful as they are is because they did their own R&D, resulting in a lot of quality hardware. Unfortunately, the market is becoming more saturated with a/v products. A/V technology is become more and more common place where it's harder to stand out. And even when you are targeting to a mid to higher range consumer group, just their business is not enough to keep you finacially affoat. I do think that SONY needs to continue their push for R&D (like their OLED line) but they need to find some way of streamlining their manufacturing cost.
Hackers are poor nerds who don't wash.
