Not a lot of good news coming from Sony.

It is difficult for them to substantially dig into their cash reserves without drastically affecting their stock price. Investors don't like stocks to go down in value, and Sony's has fallen consistently since the economic crisis started.

They need to find a way to turn things around. And sooner rather then later.

well aren't some good things happening to sony since the cost to make the PS3 has gone down? also, i thought they would become profitable in spring? I'm really confused by the way, i have no idea about the bad things happening to sony's other products

The difference you are ignoring is that Nintendo made a decent profit on the Gamecube. It didn't dominate its generation but is was profitable. Nintendo has more capitol with less than 5,000 emplyees than Sony does with 160,000. They are a very carefull company with a ingrained philosophy of keep it simple, keep it dependable, keep it affordable. Miyamoto is a visionary but Iwata keeps a tight rein. Iwata is the only Nintendo employee allowed to fly first class and he is reported to sometimes go to and return from Europe on the same day to avoid the cost of a hotel.

As far as Microsoft is concerned, they lost money on the Xbox which in the grand scheme of things for them is a very small percentage of their annual revenue. Sony is losing money on the whole corporation, not just on the Playstation. It's really not the same thing at all.

You may not like it - it may not be totally their own fault - they are not the only company facing tough times right now BUT they are the only major video game hardware manufacturere which is in such serious danger that it could impact on the world of video gaming. In fact it will have an impact, on the timing and amount of any price reduction if not something much worse.

This is legitimate and important news. This is not just picking on Sony. Although I do not have or want a PS3, I really want them to come through this intact. They are an important part of the gaming community and their loss or crippling would take away from us all. Fan boy smack talk is fine for kiddies, but this is serious grown up news.

poor sony, don't worry i will buy a new LCD 40' 1080p soon, and a vaoi 17' bluray windows 7 notebook later.

but sony it's the only one , toyota it's expected to post similar loss too, when toyota losses money something have to be really wrong.

 First, delete row icon for the win. So easy to clean up multiple quotes.

MS does not pay out large dividends as MS prefers to sit on a pile of cash. This is because when they pay out dividens, stock holders have to pay income taxes on the divdends they receive. This is fairly common amongst companies largely owned by wealthy (Bill Gates) people. They prefer the profits to sit with the company so they do pay income tax on the dividends. This causes the share price to rise in case this wasn't obvious.

"It last posted a loss in 1995, on a one-time charge. "

What does that mean? Doesn't it mean that they've posted a loss before? Am i missing something?

it means they paid off something all at once similar to how microsoft payed off a billion on RROD in 1 financial statement.

They bought Columbia Pictures.  In doing so, they took on the debt owed by Columbia Pictures which they wrote off.

@johnsobas & viper

Thanks!

Well folks things might not be looking so good for sony in the short term. long term though is another matter. I think that as a company they should be able to use this to their advantage. Trimming their product line scares the hell out of me because alot of the innovation we have seen in tech gadgets through the decades has spawned from their research. I think they should start by shaking up the management. They could also help be firing the morons that work at Sony Store and hire some real people who customers can relate to. This car salesman approach doesn't cut it. If I wanted to see predators I'd go to the dump.

We can all do a little to help out...

Start with buying Killzone 2