According to my quick searches, the last time Nintendo had any layoffs was in 2007, in USA due to some relocation of offices:

http://www.crunchgear.com/2007/06/11/sony-and-nintendo-react-to-layoff-numbers/

You mean that many layoffs, only being 5-10%, will only save them 1 billion dollars a year? LOL That seems insane :P

Hopefully Sony will make it out of this, I think they're products are only "ok", but the world of electronics certainly wouldn't be where it is today with out them.

hmmm..........i cant help but feel that this is part of the ps3 problem...

i mean if it wasn't such a drain then the video game portion of the company would be making bank and then some ya know

So sony really is doomed then? that looks pretty harsh to me. o_o'; ...

^i don't think doomed is the right word...just getting back in touch with reality after having come down from the pedistal

Whenever someone insults Sony for not doing a price cut this holiday and lagging behind the competition in sales, we should link this story.

@Meso Actually, as far as I know, the Gaming division is still profitable :P

The PS3 was definitely part of the problem I agree, but the gaming portion of that had little to do with anything I feel. The push for blu-ray probably wasn't the gaming departments goal, the invention of the Cell chip probably wasn't the gaming division's goal, and creating a virtual marketplace or essentially the Sony store was beneficial to most branches.

As far as I know the Games themselves are still selling pretty well and probably still bring them income :P

^hahahaha....wait it still wont matter after all the people that call for that have shown they know how the industry really works and this fact wont change that lie now wiill it?

see i thought the game  sector was still not breaking even due to recovering from teh launch and dev of teh ps3.....even if the ps2 is still making bank

Last I checked, they had around $7 billion in cash. They have much more than that in other assets (office buildings, factories, intellectual property etc.), but the value of these assets might turn out to be smaller than they think if they sell them during the current economic conditions.

Anyway, $7 billion in cash doesn't last for very long in a company with their dimension if their small profit margins turn into small/medium loss margins. Finding creditors is not easy either, since they already have more than $10 billion in debt (checked in google finance). Who in their right mind will lend Sony a lot of money before they prove they can restructure their company for profitability?