That's a little different. Sony is much bigger than Sega and has way more weight to throw around. What really did Sega in was the Saturn, Dreamcast actually was selling pretty well and would have undercut PS2 by $100. They pulled the plug too early for that system, but that's probably because they had to.

The Saturn did great in Japan but cost Sega in the West. Going into the Dreamcast Sega was in a make it or break it situation. Sony is selling off assets like it's a fire sale to wager a bet on the PS4 and maybe 4K TVs. Sega may have been smaller, but Sony is in no less of a serious situation. If the PS4 can't outsell the Nextbox and people continue to buy cheap but quality Visio TV at Walmart instead of expensive Sony TVs, Sony may have to consider droping product lines that lose them money in favor of products that make money.

Gaikai is for streaming full games. By mobile games I meant things like social apps, card games, etc. Things that are popular on smartphones that gamers hate but you have to admit they rake in the money. Don't even get me started on the idolmaster mobile cardgame...

@kain

Don't forget that Sega now is more successful just making and publishing games. Sega is huge. Their hardware division was holding them back to be perfectly honest. Now they publish third party games worldwide for nearly every console, computer, and phone, while still maintaining in-house development studios. Sony is also in a much different situtation because they don't just make game hardware. Games are only a small part of the company, and actually one of the more successful parts of it. Sony has had to deal for years with increased cheap competition in home and mobile electronics from China and Korea. TVs, DVD players, phones, music players, you name it.

If Sony's credit rating didn't bite the dust. (litterally received rating drops for rating drops in such a short time period that the company wasn't able to do anything or post quarterly financials) Then we wouldn't be hearing about any of this. They would just get finance loans, but instead they have to make far more public moves like selling shares and buildings. This isn't like Sega but I do agree that if PS4 does poorly it will have a massive effect on Sony. It is one of its core products. Thankfully, everything looks pretty good for it right now.

Trimming the fat.

Good move, the company has become bloated and needs to be streamlined. Cut loose any excess baggage and focus on what works best for them, I say.

Sony didn't acquire these stocks directly. They were the byproduct of their acquisition of So Net last fall. Their sale effectively reduces the cost of that acquisition, but at the same time it does devalue that acquisition. Cash on hand can be a good thing, but Sony just sold a revenue stream. Selling the buildings increased their cost of doing business. While selling stakes in other companies removes good long term revenue streams. Others have hit the nail on the head.

Sony is on a tear of a selling spree to fund new business ventures. They are effectively mortgaging their future on the hope of having a big short term payday. If it works Sony will be able to replace what they have lost through these sales plus some. If it doesn't work Sony will have expedited its demise by months if not years. Their diversified business streams, and lower costs of doing business. Actually decreased losses in the past. Remove those things, and the losses stop getting cushioned.

I am somewhat conflicted about whether this strategy is the right choice. On the one hand Sony has to make a move if it wants to stay relevant in the marketplace. After a certain point they wouldn't have any chance of addressing the erosion in their core business. On the other hand however the global economy is fairly anemic. The world just can't seem to shake this long as all hell economic downturn. Every time it looks like we are about to break out into sunshine. Some crisis somewhere or other causes a panic. That sets a recovery back by months.

Sony needs to make a move, but biding its time would be much safer. Sony seems to be damned if they do, and damned if they don't. They can't be both safe and successful. They can only be one or the other, and still get the opposite outcome. Well it is going to make things a bit more even moving forward at least in the short term. I was wondering how Sony was going to be able to contend with Microsoft and Nintendo this coming generation. Seeing as they are filthy rich off of gaming by comparison. What Sony really needed was some money to do things with, and now they seemingly have some.

People who see this as a sign of doom don't know anything about good business.

Sony's prior business model was bloated and unfocused. They had their hands in too many cookie jars. Reducing the size of the company to focus on their lucrative assets and brands (Playstation, cell phone, tablets, competitively priced HDtvs not 4K ones....yet) will allow them to maximize their efforts in these fields to take back their market share domination.

Every move Sony has made in 2013 has been INCREDIBLE. And their competitors should be afraid. Very afraid. Because they've ALWAYS had to best quality products on the market. Now with an assured focus on the products that are profitable and acquiring money to promote, advertise, and support these efforts by selling off the fat will make Sony an absolute nightmare to go up against.