I get the impression that Sony's intentions were not to become the most profitable in the gaming industry; their tactics, as you noted, don't reflect such intentions. Rather, I suspect they wanted to be the most prolific. In that regard, they were an uncontested success: there's more PS1 and PS2 systems in households across the world than any other game system. It's a rather petty goal, but it makes sense if your main goal is to become a household name for a specific type of product more than to have a large intake of profit.
One big thing to consider here is that Sony can afford to have a division that doesn't draw impressive profits. Their other divisions can do a good job of shoring up for that. Whether they want to do that (or if their shareholders will let them) is entirely another matter, and the most likely answer is "hell no".
Sky Render - Sanity is for the weak.
