1. Sony's gaming division is not "highly successful". It is and has been bleeding money for some time. It took years for the PS3 to become profitable, and the PS4, considering it's tech for that price, is almost certainly losing money.

2. I wouldn't suggest that Sony has the "rosier horizon" at all. Nintendo's portable sales are doing very well, they have literally billions of dollars in the bank, and the only reason they "posted a loss" for this past fiscal year, is because their own forcast was FAR too high in the first place.

3. Nintendo's home console, the Wii U, is hardly "near dead". It got a nice shot in the arm late last year, and has a much more consistent release schedule for 2014, with games like MK and SB absolutely primed to provide stronger sales. Things aren't GREAT for Wii U, but they're not as dire as some make things out to be either. What Wii U has lacked, is what it is soon getting, some actual, "big gun" type games that are must haves for many people, such as Mario Kart, that will help drive sales, as many have held off buying the console till these kinds of games come out. The PS4, on the other hand, while doing great right now in sales, the gaming division as a whole is not making much money for Sony, and some of their other divisions are in big trouble. Sony could not survive if gaming was all they had, and if the company as a whole goes under, so shall the Playstation. Some other company might certainly buy the brand, but it would still be a disaster.

4. All of this meaning, that I would say Sony is the stronger bet as to who might be "in trouble". Even if Wii U DOES ultimately fail, which I do not currently believe it shall, even if it DOES, that won't cost Nintendo a shitload in the long-run, they have plenty of money, their portable system is doing fine, they will no dobut just make another console, and they are planning to branch out into other business areas, and license more of their properties out for non-gaming products, which will be another big source of revenue. If Wii U fails to make them a lot of money, they will just keep on trucking. They are one of the strongest brands in the world. Sony, over the last several years, has not been. Not like they used to be.

Both.

The Vita for Sony, the Wii U for Nintendo. Outside of indie support, Wii U is getting supported better than the Vita is. I'm really pissed off at Sony because of the Vita.

Yeah, who else would be dumb enough to go by that philosophy?

If Sony ditches their TV division, then I will say them.

Nintendo is much healthier financially but eventually you need a hit product, and it seems to me like all their product categories are in decline.

Yes even 3DS ... 13 million/year at what could be its peak is not that great. The GBA was hitting 15-17+ million shipments in comparable years in its life cycle, so both the Wii U and 3DS are selling less than the GCN/GBA era (no point in comparing to the Wii/DS days).

Also I honestly don't know if Iwata/Miyamoto (as a business suit) know what they're doing. I get the sense that they are going to chase trying to repeat Wii Fit's success ... but seeing how badly Wii Fit U is doing, I have to wonder if they really can pull off this quality of life thing.

Nintendo has $8 billion in bank with no debt. And hardly any sustainable biz except 3DS whose sales are dwindling.

Sony has a net value of over $20 billion (assets-debt). They have a hugely profitable music,pictures (they only posted a loss 2 quarters ago, and are back in green), financial (on its own makes more profit than entire Nintendo), games (most profitable gaming division in the world, according to this Q results. $174million in profits. Entire nintendo had only around $100million ).
Only TV and mobile make consistent losses, and mobile is increasing at a rapid pace and will be profitable soon. TV will be spun off, and if unprofitable for too long, sold.

Seriously, anyone saying Sony is more "doomed" than Nintendo needs some maths and economics classes 101 asap. Nintendo has nothing more than any other 3rd party publisher ie. successful video game IPs.

Oh and btw, NONE of them will kick the bucket soon. But nintendo has more things to cure than Sony. Sony will try to mend their TV biz, and if they fail, they will sell it.

Can Nintendo sells their games biz if they cannot mend the problems? That is your answer.

No profitable games biz = no nintendo as things stand right now. I am glad they are thinking about expanding beyond games. That will give them some support when their games biz isnt doing hot.

Well, that sums it up quite clearly.... I concur.

3 out of 7 is almost all of them?

Nintendo is in big, big trouble. It's clear that there are no market for their console and that their hanheld segment is rapidly dwindling. Where else can they go?

I'm sure Disney would love to have them, but acquiring them would probably be too cash-heavy for them. 

Nintendo isnt in big big trouble, they ****ed up on there home console sure but that doesn't mean its going down. They just announced they are expanding from just video games, i dont kno wat company in big big trouble would expand their company if it weren't possible :p

Congratulation. You've come up with a whole one example of a company for which this approach works. And the fact that Apple's and Nintendo's business, market and target audience is absolutely comparable makes your argument even stronger.