I don't know how this turned into a revenue vs profit thread...
Whoever mentioned that Microsoft is a public company... so is Sony. So is Nintendo for that matter.
Sony is under much more pressure to improve its bottom line, and it's fighting fierce battles on all fronts--entertainment, electronics, semiconductors, gaming.
One poor quarter and Sony will be under tremendous pressure from shareholders--Sony has yet to turn around its saggin fortunes. $1ln in profit isn't gonna cut it for Sony.
Hus: The entertainment division as you all know is a hit and miss affair. One hit (Spiderman) boosts short term income (a year or so) but that's about it. With a reported $250 mln budget let's just say it's a hit or any further discussion is pointless.
The only company (aside from those big oils) that can lose billions in one division without it even being brought to the forefront is probably Microsoft. In fact, in Microsoft's case, they HAD to move into new arenas to diversify, since everybody knows they can't count on their position forever (maybe for another 10 years).
Sony on the other hand, can afford to exit the console market if the losses pile up. Won't be Stringer (CEO) 's vision, but they are plenty diversified as is. In fact some shareholders already want to split up the company to "unlock" value.
I think people know this--and some are secretly worried. It's an unnecessary worry because they're not gonna let the brand Playstation die, but it could mean budget cuts for PS3 game development if Sony's other divisions aren't propping up the profits--although at the time being, Sony's bottom line looks like it's improving thanks to electronics so Sony still has time to turn it around.
the Wii is an epidemic.
