I think many companies think they need to get into other parts of media and branch out yet if they focus on one aspect, the reason the device is being bought, then they will succeed. PS3 and PS4 are good examples of both of the above.
Before the 7th Gen, online gaming and social media were not important, non-existant beyond PC and Halo (just Halo) aspects. PS3 and Sony went to try and dominate the movie buying industry by putting blu-ray into all units, bumping up the price. This price difference to many was not worth it, not when at the time a lot of games could still be stored on one high capacity DVD. While their choice meant their format would succeed, it cost them the market and huge amounts of profit made from the previous generations.
Now with PS4 they don't need to introduce a new format, the new format (digital distribution) came into effect during the 7th gen, so their push for a new distribution format like the last generation wasn't a concern, they could focus on the thing that made the Playstation successful to begin with, priority on gaming (with a few modern updates like social sharing and community), which back during PS1 and PS2 was the only concern.
On the other hand, MS this gen are doing the same thing I think PS3 had issues with, their focus isn't the game, it's their Live service/cloud/TV features, to get their product in the living room and while sales early on will be high (like PS3s were) I think in a year they might slow once people start to really start to see which console is worth it. (Wii U is failing because the fad of the motion controls is gone and it's called Wii U).
Or maybe I'm talking bullcrap...
Hmm, pie.
