"withdraw from unprofitable or non-core businesses"? ... So that must mean they're not gonna make any casual games, just ones for the hardcore, then? But that also means they're not gonna make unprofitable games anymore, while casual games sell better than core games. That doesn't make sense!

there will be a PS4, but no price-cut anytime soon. Sony has some real issues. currency is just one point, but not having a great and defining product is a bad thing.

• In the 80s there was the walkman (Tapes)
• 90s the PSOne
• 2000 PS2
• today.... well... not that much

There is canon or even casio with the cameras, there is Samsung, Philipps, Toshiba and Panasonic with the TVs, there is Microsoft and Nintendo with the gaming, there is Apple with mobile music, there is Nokia, Samsung, Apple with mobile phones etc.

There is no market you immediately associate with Sony anymore. Sony had a huge growth in the 80s and they were on a lot of markets, but now, companies are focussing on the core businesses. Sony has no core business left.

Walkman : 300 million units sold.

Their biggest problem has been Jack-of-all-trades in unpredictable markets but all isn't lost. Their strategy just has to change in most cases and they need to shrink in size.

It's really sad because when we talk about all these job cuts, real people with real families are losing their jobs. This is depressing.

Sony is leaving the gaming division.

Oh noes!

I'd expect them to pull from some of their "hard goods" sections - like CD manufacturing (ever notice how less and less of a selection of new CDs are in stores, due to the MP3 era?). Id even expect them to lessen their focus on PC system production, as they're having a tough go against other brands. Radios, CD Players, etc... if they scale back from older technology, then it only makes sense that they are adapting to current customer demand. If this is case, then the situation really isn't as bleak as it sounds.

I can suggest 3 areas that will not be affected - Sony Pictures, Sony Music, and SCEA. These are Sony's cash cows.

Bravia is SONY's biggest asset right now. Playstation as well.. maybe they will start charging for PSN? Which isnt a bad idea at all. It should save them millions of dollars every year and maybe even generate some profit.

SCEA was a cash cow but at the moment it is not making much at all. But i do not think Sony will let it go under because they have invested too much in it(ie Bluray) to let it fall.

There's no such thing as "invested too much to let it fall." If it is losing money even after big investments, it's time to let go. I'm not saying that's the case with Blu-Ray, just a general notion. No matter how much you invest, some ideas are just plain bad and will never catch on.

It may be reasonable to lay a lot of the blame for this at Ken Kutagari's feet.  His engineering, mismanagement, and lack of communication led to the PS3 being released at $599 and selling at a significant loss.  It's his doing that the PS3 will never be profitable and may end this generation having lost much of the profit the PS2 made.

If it wasn't for those extra billions lost, couldn't Sony have kept these 8,000 jobs around?

Consider the case with the PS3 -- before it launched, Sony had invested too much for it ever to be profitable and there was too much vested in it to let it fail.  If Sony would have canceled the PS3 before launch, it would have cost an untold number of companies tens of millions each (any company that had a significant development in progress for the PS3).  This would have really hurt Sony's position if they ever wanted to make a console again.