Microsoft and Sony both follow the loss leading strategy. Microsoft's online plan reflects this. Sony's online plan does not reflect this. Microsoft uses revenue from Lives Gold membership to defer the costs of loss leading. Sony uses their online service as a free feature to attract consumers to buy their hardware.
One of these strategies is working the other is not. Can you guess which one. Microsoft could well earn four or five billion dollars this generation from their live service. More then sufficient to cover their initial hardware losses. Sony on the other hand is providing the service free which is another expenditure that must be factored into the loss leading strategy. They lose on hardware, they must support a free service, and it doesn't appear that the software is covering either of these losses.
Microsoft will probably charge for their service into perpetuity. Why turn a revenue stream that could help them loss lead with hardware into something that makes the entire endeavor more expensive not less so. Sony will probably eventually start to charge for their service. For all the discussion about micro transactions and advertising revenue deferring the costs. The reality is that consumers are fickle. There is only so much you dqn push before they decide they are being swindled.
They will probably phase it in gradually one small feature at a time, and then one day you will find a exclusive membership level available. They will probably call them service packages. Then before you know what is happening your free service is suddenly a charged service.
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