That is definitely correct, but the 360 is still going to be around longer.  And he didn't contradict himself, MS just updated their plan.

Theres no point in withdrawing the Xbox 360 from the market if the PS3 is still in the game. Hell, as soon as the first next gen console arrives both the PS3 and Xbox 360 are going to look equally obsolete.

i'm not a business expert, but i am a mathematics expert, and it is highly ignorant to use a linear regression model to say anything at all about our present discussion. yes, the ps3 is selling just over 100k a week, but that does not mean you can treat that number as a mean. price cuts, game releases, and holidays all cause spikes in the numbers. the only meaningful way to talk about the numbers is to speak as generally as possible over the whole data set. the ps3 has clocked in about 10 million units sold a year. if we were to assume linearity 2009 would yield about half that. but that's not the case. if you really wanted to predict performance one would have to look at several key points in the year and draw a percentage. this could allow one to extrapolate the rest of the year.

and this is just a wrong statement.  the ps2 was still selling strong well into the next gen of consoles.  we all know we can't say the same for the original xbox.  sony has vowed to do the same thing with the ps3, and microsoft has given us no reason to believe they won't.   that is another reason i justified buying the more expensive console.  if you compare the cost with the systems lifecycle, the ps3 will assuredly end up being cheaper per year than its counterpart.  this is even more obvious when the cost of xbox live is factored into it.

Let's hope they aren't updating their plans like they did their HD DVD and X360 specs numbers/plan, right? ;)

Livecyclus is formost connected with the installbase. Big installbase means a good opportunity for 3 party developers to make money with an last gen console. the ps2 has a huge installbase and thus still interesting for sales. The ps3 will be dropped as a brick like the GC, when the next gen arrives. Why spend some 30 million on a small installbase? Why take the risk? You're not going to make a profit. The wii will be like PS2 now and will be selling games a couple years in the next gen. The winner takes all. Sorry PS3.

Sony selling PS3s is not a choice, its economics. When the narket price falls below the price Sony wants to be paid to keep producing PS3s, it will be withdrawn from the market its that simple really.

As for the rest of your post, you're making a lot of assumptions or bad judgements. You're assuming the PS3 will be out for a long time but market precedent is that losing consoles get withdrawn soonest. Hell you can still be buying games in 2012, but if most of the PS3 userbase has moved on retailers won't see much incentive to keep stocking new games and developers will stop making them.

Lastly, have you used Xbox Live? If you haven't then how do you know its of no value to you, or at least no extra value over PSN which may justify the cost.

yes it's possible that the ps3 could prove nonviable as the new gen starts.  i really don't think this will happen as the price lowers and the games and functionality keep getting better.  but i admit i am not good at predicting buying trends of consumers, because people are pretty stupid.

and i've used xbox live before plenty.  i always thought it had a childish look to it.  i find the psn presentation much more aesthetically pleasing.

 By that same logic, Killzone should sell 166,000 copies next week, because it's been out for 9 weeks and sold 1.5 million, thus they must be selling 166k a week.  That ignores trends, diminished utility, and actual data we have right at our fingertips...  Yeah, there was a spike with the Japanese release, but Killzone will likely be selling less than Halo 3 again next week, not rocketing into 3rd.  That linear regression is based on ACTUAL sales data, not on the current numbers extrapolated.  The PS3 is the only console this generation to have a negative slope in its sales...  It's selling FEWER concoles year-over-year, indicating that the gap will actually increase the longer both consoles are on the market.

PS3 moves fewer consoles each year: fact.  If they continued selling at the CURRENT rate they're moving (which would actually buck their current downward trend) it would take nearly two years to close the gap with their nearest competitor (if said competitor wasn't selling anything in that time).

100k may not be a good mean to use, but it's actually being generous given the trend.  However, you using the average given the obvious spike last year and the drop since is misleading.  Median would actually be the better indicator of central tendency due to this very fact.

I would think you'd know this, being a statistician and all.

*bumps knux*

MS was never a strong supporter of HD-DVD.  The addon was offered by Toshiba.

Also, by "specs numbers" do you mean kinda like how sony have changed their SKU's like 50 billion times?  First there was BC with card readers and 20GB with no WiFi, then BC with no card readers, then no BC but all WiFi, and don't forget all the different hard drive changes (20,40,60,80,160).