This is a bit of a silly scenario, it could have swung either way but I think that it was Bluray saved the PS3 for its first year. If Sony made all these mistakes even after a year of the 360 launch, imagine the mistakes they would have made if it was released a year earlier.
Even with the reduced price (due to no bluray and no cell) , it would not match up to the 360, especially in terms of online play and graphical performance.
Even though time has proven that the least powerful console wins, in Sonys case, not only would it have been less powerful, but the software situation would have been dire.
Take all the multiplatform games for instance. Would you pay $50 for a game that looks like a 360 game, or somwhere between the xbox / Xbox 360 (which is what PS3 games would have looked like if it was released a year early).
The only reason to own launch games such like Motorstorm was the graphics. It would have honestly been a PS2.5 type scenario. Even advantages of having no cell such as backwards compatibility from day 1 wouldn't help the PS3's sales.
And on a side note OP, never have i read a more deluded hypothesis than yours.
