LOL? any1 still doubting this? from 8m GAP down to 4m @ 299 price point nuff said.

I get a kick out of these threads.  There have been hundreds and hundreds of these exact posts in the past.  Wait until next year!  The PS3 will finally be in second place OMG!!  Guess what, it hasn't happend yet and I don't think it ever will.  From what most people at VGchartz say Sony already has the best lineup of exclusives.  And if this hasn't caused Johny Casual gameplayer to rush out and buy a PS3 nothing will.  The only game on that list that has any chance of moving hardware is GT5 and I think most people are coming to the realization that it isn't going to push many PS3's.  

So the only thing that really could cause the PS3 to leap ahead is yet another price cut.  Financially I don't think that Sony is in a position for another price cut.  The dollar is horrid when its set up against the Yen so this makes it even harder for Sony to drop the price.  Like the previous poster pointed out, Microsoft's gaming division has turned more of a profit last quarter than all of Sony has since the PS3 has been released.  So MS is clearly in a better position to cut price and offer bundles which would counter anything that Sony would or could do.

Even with this being said, the PS3 is in a good position.  There is no need for them to cut price and kill any hope of Sony profiting from the PS3 this quarter.  Who cares what position the console is in as long as the console is still being produced and they are actively making great games for it.

Could happen, but it won't change the fact that Sony lost a lot of footing in the US (which is a key market worldwide) and UK (key market in Europe), unfortunately. =/

Hopefully by next gen, they'll learn to avoid the mistakes they made this gen.

As long as America Xbox 360 sales stay high and PS3 America sales stay low, and the difference in EMAA is only about 20k. Then the Xbox 360 will stay in 2nd place.

I think Sony has already come to the realisation that, as a whole, the PS3 will never be profitable.  Right now, they are going to try to just remain profitable from here on in and try to regain as much marketshare as possible.  As far as profits go, there are more ways than one to earn people's money, so Sony isn't just relying on HW being profitable for this.  The more consoles you sell, the more games and accessories you sell, which have a higher gap between manufacturing costs and MSRP than a console.  And having a larger marketshare this gen is only going to help their launch position next gen.

As far as the PS4 having a higher R&D cost, I highly doubt that.  Sony is most likely sticking with Blu-ray through the next gen, only this time using a 6x or 8x drive, so cost for the drives will be relatively low.  They are probably going to incorporate an evolved form of the Cell inside it, as well.  Which again, will mean less R&D since Sony spent a lot of money developing the Cell for the PS3.  In the end, this is going to make the PS4 a much cheaper to produce console.  I mean the only reason the PS3 cost so much was because Sony developed 2 brand new technologies for its release.  I wouldn't be surprised if the PS4 released for only $400 off the bat.

Well, we have been hearing the Xbox fanboy parade for a couple years now...

Their argument is based on software exclusives, which in itself is flawed, but id like to point out that microsoft usually doesn't reveal their exclusives untill a few months of their release.

Well, aside from Kinect titles, we knew what Xbox 360 exclusives were coming in 2010 before this year.

That's why i said usually

That's nintendo.

Microsoft has small first party with announcements long ways before release.