Hm... You guys tend to forget that MS dug a hole the size of my country (Belgium, pretty small, but still,fill it with money and...) with the 1st Xbox. That console NEVER turned a profit. And that hole got even bigger with the first two years of Xbox 360. Just now, they start earning more than they're spending. So for them to "turn a profit", they have to fill that gigantic hole first. Believe me, at this point, shareholders are NOT happy with the state of affairs. If Xbox 360 gets surpassed by PS3 now, they're in serious problems.
Not only do they have to pay their dues again with a new console (which is a mayor investment and takes a few years before it actually makes more money than it costs), but they probably will have to go for Blu-ray as a disk too. Which means: Sony will make a profit on MS new console from day one. And will use that money against them (pumping it into the PS4, making more exclusive PS3 software, lowering the PS3 hardware price even more)
So yes, like some of you are saying here, Sony is doing better than Xbox in Europe and Japan for some time now, and sold more in the US the last few months. If MS's pricedrop, the release of GTA4, or some other initiative doesn't turn that around in a big way fast, they're super screwed.
So if MS can't stay in the lead just a little bit this generation, shareholders may just vote to stop the investment, cut their losses and invest their $$$ in something more secure.
