Is Microsoft bleeding Sony on purpose?

[Grey Acumen]

Even if M$ is losing money on the consoles, I get the feeling they're making up for it in terms of software sales AND the XBox Live accounts + Live games and the like. Nintendo just happens to be making a profit on everything.

One of the big issues on this generation of the console wars is that wins aren't only based on hardware and software numbers alone. Right now, I can only think of 3 ways that a winner can be determined:

1) One console takes the lead on multiple fronts (Like the Wii overtakes the 360 sales in America, and catches up in terms of Software sold as well)
2) All 3rd party developers drop exclusive support for a console, or completely stop developing for a console at all (M$ seems to have the least to worry about in this. Nintendo has a bad history with 3rd party support, but Sony has already lost an exclusive or two, and there has been talk about losing other titles as well)
3) The company themselves announce that they are no longer going to support their own console due to lack of profits (no way this will happen for 360 and Wii, but I still don't see this happening even for the PS3)


I think M$ is scrabbling hard, since it's lost its lead to Wii, it needs to ensure that it's got a STRONG 2nd place, or it's going to get drawn into the same type of thing that happened last gen, where it was basically tied with Gamecube in a distant 2nd/3rd compared to PS2. If M$ allows Sony to catch up, then the PS brandname, and the fact that it managed to catch up even with the 360 launching a year earlier, people will likely see the PS3 as the stronger console.
It's not that M$ is trying to bleed Sony on purpose, but they're trying to establish themselves as being conclusively better, to ensure that they don't allow sony enough chance to catch up, and then surpass them.