Deathwatch - will the Sony Empire fall in 2009?

We, at Bitterwallet, hesitated in adding a global manufacturer like Sony to Bitterwallet's Deathwatch list; it's all very well predicting the End of Days for Woolies and PC World, but not one of the best recognised brands on the planet, surely? Until you look at some of the facts and figures haunting the Tokyo-based company right now:

Sony have today announced plans to make 5% of its electronics workforce redundant - about 8,000 jobs
From July to September, the Japanese economy shrank nearly five times faster than Government predictions
Sony's profits fell by 90% in the last financial quarter, while warning that full-year profits would be down nearly 60% on the previous year
The company's share prices has dropped from over $57 at the beginning of the year, to just $20 today

[pp]

Yes Yes Yes it will fall i am so Excited and all this due to PS3.Hahahaha theirs only room for one console (xbox360)in this world.

[callahan09]

What a foolish sentiment. Why do you cheer at the prospect of a multinational electronics and entertainment corporation falling apart? This is bad news for the industry, not good news. This is bad news for thousands of people who will lose their jobs, for even more people who will lose money on their investments in this company. The entire notion of a one-console world will stifle innovation through a lacking of competition and incentive to push boundaries.

[solidjun5]

...but a group of individuals. You are efficient at your form of trolling.

[ravinshield]

PSfail

[PeptoBismol]

i hope all you 360 fanshits get raped by a horse

[tomfoolery]

GO SCREW YOURSELF YOU LOUSY CORPORATION.

BYEEYAYE

MS and NINTENDO FOR THE GAMING UNIVERSE!!!!!!!!!

[likedamaster]

PP, you should have went epic with that statement somewhere along the line of...

SONY EMPIRE DOOMED!(2009) 16,000 FIRED..CONFIRMED!!!

LOL

[PirateThom]

Will the Sony empire (which includes numerous electronics, music and movie outlets) fall in 2009?

lol, wut?

[ps3Owns360]

you guys are really stupid,this is also affecting microsoft as well.why you think 360 only have gears 2,left 4 dead,and fable2.BECause of the economy.its affecting everybody microsft cannot afford making more games in there studios.ps3 will still have its lineup 09.and 360 still will have its dead long games.

[Graphics Whore]

HAHAHA, ARE YOU SERIOUS. This will only get approved by the haters.

[Nineball2112]

Actually, I approved it and I'm pretty sure I'm not a PS3 hater.

Both sides of this stupid flame war need to chill out. It's okay for people to have opinions.

I think the article is wrong, but people are allowed to have reasoned opinions.

Nothing bad will happen if this topic is discussed, I promise.

[chaosatom]

PS1????

PS2????

WTF????

Most of the Companies are going to Fall if Sony does.

[Graphics Whore]

If you think the article is wrong then why are you approving this. School taught you nothing eh?

[Le-mo]

Don't forget the Walkman, CD, Tape Recorder and well...you get the point. Another pointless article.

[RussDeBuss]

TV's as well. even if they may not be the best, ask some1 that isn't that clued up which tv's are the best and i b et they will say a sony

[Nineball2112]

Haha... yeah, school taught me quite a bit.

Especially about the topic of critical thinking. You know, the concept that other people might have opinions. Heck, you might even disagree with their opinions, but that's okay.

There's even a new thing out called persuasive arguments, wherein (now try to grasp this concept) people take different sides of a topic and try to change perceptions of people holding opposing views of the topic. Yeah, I know!! Pretty radical stuff, eh?

Anyways, I agree that all of the intentional FUD is reprehensible and pathetic, but sometimes people have legitimate differences of opinion and it's nice to have mature conversations about them. At least, it is to me, but then again, I try to have an open mind. Look that phrase up sometime, maybe it'll "open your mind". Oh, the irony of it all.

Edit: And just to prove my Sony fanboy street cred, I believe that Sony will be around making gaming consoles as long as gaming is a market. Sony's Empire is HUGE and it isn't going away anytime soon, and you can quote me on that.

Of course, that's just my OPINION which I hope I'm allowed to have.

[AAACE5]

What the hell is this?

Sony cuts a few jobs and now people have them on a death list?

Sony isn't going anywhere! They have taken some losses just like every other business during this financial rut, and are taking steps to offset the issues they are facing! It is wrong to think they are going to go bankrupt or anything!

[Graphics Whore]

You're clearly aware that this is fud, you're just helping stir the pot. There is no critical assessment or thinking processed here before or after the article was written. It's just flame bait.

If you are as smart as you say you are than you wouldn't have approved the article, you obviously have a goal.

The article has no tangible evidence other than stock shares, OH NO, a multi billion dollar Company isn't doing the best. Guess what Microsoft was at the same place when Vista debuted, did they go any where clearly not. This article isn't in the realm of realism, it's written by an Xbox Live rodey who thought he had a shared opinion, clearly it is biased and clearly it is fud.

[Light Yagami]

Poor PS3 fanboys can't accept that Sony is an epic failure this gen.

[SL1M DADDY]

It's the new "news".

Is it just me or is anybody else tired of the FUD being spread lately?

[Anon1974]

But at the same time, not a lot of positive news out these days, is there? It's not that there isn't anything positive going on, it's just that it isn't reported by anyone.

For the record, I think this article is 100% incorrect. The job losses were part of an expected restructuring that Sony has been undertaking for awhile now. These losses don't kick in until 2010, which some would argue won't come soon enough but that's another debate.

Analysts expected electronics sales to slow but are still predicting an increase in Sony's revenue stream for 2009. Sony's stock is down exactly the same as the entire market in general, and then it's taking a hit on the foreign exchange between the yen and US dollar. The fact that this article takes that share depreciation and translates it into a reflection of Sony as a whole is staggeringly inaccurate.

Having read Sony's financials and gone through a few analysts reports just in the course of my work, I find it hard to believe that the author can take a couple of recent news articles, throw in two bits of sales data and on that predict a company's demise without actually turning to one of the many professional research articles out there that predicts Sony will simply be making a little less money this next year compared to the last two years. That's a far cry from predicting a company's demise.

[bushfan]

Sony is a giant..tv, cell phones, video cameras, tv's, blu-ray, and the entertainment division where PS brand it is.
there are a lot of companys cutting jobs. everywhere, anywhere, not only sony.

[JsonHenry]

My prediction on the future of Sony?

1 - They learn their lesson and develop a console with more standardized parts that is much easier to code for and less expensive to develop for.

2 - They will mimic whatever MicroSoft's current online abilities are, as well as charge for the service.

3 - They will OVERTAKE the handheld market with the next PSP due to superior graphics and online abilities compared to the DS and the next Nintendo handheld.

4 - They will make the next console so that the sale price vs price of manufacturing the console close to even. Which may mean the next console will not be such a huge leap in performance as this generation had over the last, or just charge more for a more powerful console.

5 - The Sony "empire" will not fail. It will restructure its business model to reflect lessons learned with the PS3.

[Nineball2112]

They have some valid points (even though I disagree with their conclusion).

Here are the main points that I thought were interesting and deserved to be discussed:

* Sony have today announced plans to make 5% of its electronics workforce redundant - about 8,000 jobs
* From July to September, the Japanese economy shrank nearly five times faster than Government predictions
* Sony’s profits fell by 90% in the last financial quarter, while warning that full-year profits would be down nearly 60% on the previous year
* The company’s share prices has dropped from over $57 at the beginning of the year, to just $20 today

Now, those are verifiable facts. That's not FUD. You might not LIKE those facts, you might wish they weren't true, but they are facts.

Again, I don't believe Sony will fail as a company because of those facts, but that doesn't mean I can't hear out their view on the matter.

Grow up! The world doesn't always revolve around your view point of things.

You know if I'm pissing off both system's fanboys, I'm must be doing something right.

[Graphics Whore]

The only validity found in the article is stock shares and cut backs, there's a recession happening if you aren't aware, this is happening to every company. Look at Microsoft's stock low's they are lower than Sony's does it mean anything? NO it's just following trend.

There is no view to this it's just flame bait and you got trolled. I'm not a fanboy by the way but this is clearly one of the most poorly written articles and it's a god damn laugh that you got sucked in by it.

This has as much truth behind it as Hitler being a nice guy.

You know damn well you're just trying to cause restless debate on a feud that doesn't end. For future reference log off before you decide to approve crap.

BTW Last quarter Sony's Gaming Division made profit.

[Anon1974]

Well, that stock depreciation isn't reflective of anything. All stocks are being punished equally and this will continue until the economic data starts clearing up the confusion regarding how deep a recession we're looking at. Good companies, bad companies, they're all being hammered.

Sony's revenue drop comes from two things, slowing consumer spending and a massive change in the yen to US dollar price. Still, Sony is forecast to make over 2 billion in profit for their fiscal year ending March 09. The job cuts didn't surprise anyone (in fact, Sony's stock is up 4% today on a generally negative day) as Sony had announced months ago that they were restructuring to save costs.

Sure all these things are facts, but without context behind them they're rather meaningless.

[Nineball2112]

OMG!

Put on your big girl panties and deal with it. Life isn't all about what you think is fair.

If the story is so freakin' antithetical to your belief system, then don't comment on it, let alone click the link. Problem solved... Take your own advice: For future reference log off before you decide to read articles that don't match your one sided world view.

Again, I don't even disagree with you that the conclusion of the article is wrong and full of crap, but if you can't handle opposing views, you're in for a rough time in life. Good luck with that.

Sony will be fine. This conclusion of this article is wrong.

Now, you can stop holding your breathe because you didn't get your way.

[Killjoy3000]

No company, Microsoft nor Sony. will all of a sudden just "Die." It's not that simple. If they were backing out of the game, why would they throw so much resources at PS3? It just doesn't make any sense. This article is worse than the idea of Microsoft buying Sony Computer Entertainment.

[Nineball2112]

Darkride posted: "Sure all these things are facts, but without context behind them they're rather meaningless."

Right you are, bro. And look, you were able to refute/add context to the points that were posted in the article. And, based on your responses, now other people have that information available to them.

Thanks for the information.

[Anon1974]

Helps me get through the work day.

[XxZxX]

if Sony is going down, like Fujitsu, the Japan government will bail sony out. So Sony will not go down in flames, IDIOT!!. If you think you are smart to write a death watch, at least do some freaking research first.

[Danja]

wow So because Sony decides to cut a few jobs and close a few factories they're on there death bed...

Every major corporation has been feeling the effects of this crappy economy..

I guess EA is gonna close down soon since it's cutting alot of jobs also..

this article fails...so badly

[acedoh]

Probably nothing... Because despite the PS3 losing on the consoles produced they are still making a profit. The PSN is a massive profit center and is an incredible revenue maker for this generation. Along with continued success of the PS2 and PSP I don't think SONY will hurt it's shining light. If you look at game sales they have been continuing to rise which shows that the game market is still a safe bet in this harsh economy. I think SONY will probably refocus some of it's efforts and in the end run be a much better company...

[Lombax]

You beat me to it... but anywho.

"Sony simply isn’t famous for anything in particular, and hasn’t been for years."

Pfft...

I guess being famous for everything is bad for a company.

[phosphor112]

called "report as f**king stupid"
..honestly...

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

No, they won't charge for the online service. That's a HUGE draw to the PS3...and it will be for the PS4 as well.

[prowiew]

Like I said in other post. The layoffs will continue through 2010. Sony really is not the company that was before. In this tough times, people are looking for alternatives. Sony is still selling their electronics stuff at premium prices. You can buy a Vizio with the same quality as a Bravia $500 less. You can buy a HP or Acer laptop with same specs as a Vaio at much less money. Mp3 player they cant compete with apple, not even 2nd or 3rd place. The two things they are doing really well lately, is playstation brand and blu ray. Of course they will not go out of business, but the future is looking tough for them. My opinion is they really need a change of focus at their electronics, dropping prices and make it more accesible to regular consumers. My2cents

[Daver]

loll another useless article.. why would it takes 1 year to one of the biggest electronic company to fall?

[Capital G]

no it took 2 year

november 17 2006.

[Anon1974]

Man. Get informed. You're embarassing.

[Pennywise]

Is he embarrassing because he is an uninformed troll or because of what he looks like in his avatar? I think both.

[Anon1974]

Yeah, it's both.

[ElementX]

I think Capital G is cute :)

[phosphor112]

why aren't your bubbles gone yet? you are dumb..I swear, all you do is flamebait

[LittleBigKillzone]

I know most here are worried about the gaming division but dont worry, sony's gaming division as a whole is one of the most profitable divisions for sony so its not going anywhere. Sure they will struggle for a few months or so but I say once the Obama administration takes office Jan 20th and gets to work, i say by late summer to early fall we will see some improvements in the economy and Sony will be just fine.

Think about it, usually when a game company fails they dont announce huge upcoming titles coming out the next year. I mean they are heavily pushing Killzone 2 for release in a couple months, they heavily announced Uncharted 2 and God of war 3 for next year. So sony knows that the Gaming division is still very profitable. Now if they didnt announce any games for next year then id be worried, but the fact they are announcing all these great games is a sign there is no need to be worried about the gaming division

[snakeater3]

why do you think obama can save the world ? not even jc can save us now ....we have to endure the pains as the financial crisis permeates in the real economy....id say we need another 12-18months to see thiss mess through

[majorsuave]

Yep, they will be fine once they are sold to some North American corporation, be it Activision, EA, Microsoft or Google

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

You think Obama's going to do something to improve the economy? He's been destroying Illinois with Rod Blagojevich (who was arrested earlier today) for a couple of years now. What makes you think he's going to be a good president?

Wait...don't tell me...The Daily Show made fun of Bush so much that it seemed like Obama was a super-intelligent human being? Obama's a tool for the democratic congress. We're EFFED!

[TOO PAWNED]

this will get approved, like that crap "360 rockets in Europe" even if it is from fanboy blog

[Sjoeter]

sony just did this to themselves! they f*cked us European games over and over and over again! (uber delay of the consoles! two high prices of the consoles and games! policies that make no sense!) its just to bad that so many people have to loose there jobs over this.

[acedoh]

SONY's best territory is Europe. They are outpacing the 360 over there. So I hardly understand what you are trying to say... Also please do some research because SONY as of right now is not cutting the gaming division. Videogames are profitable... The areas that get affected by economic downturn are PC's and Televisions which are both high end and generally more expensive that what a lot of the competition offers...

[Magic_The_Celt]

Many sad fanboys wish

but no, no it will not :D ahhh 2009, i cant wait for all the amazing PS3 Exlusives lined up.

[ravinshield]

shut ur ass off

[Magic_The_Celt]

Best you got?

[DJ]

Every company in the world is experiencing "layoffs and lower profit margins."

My company has already downsized 5 times over the past two years. We've gone from 80 employees on two shifts to just 30 employees on one shift.

[Captain Tuttle]

Yesterday it was negative Microsoft articles. Today it's negative PS3 articles. It's how N4G works.

To be fair though, the job cuts really are huge news and worthy of discussion. When MS cuts 5-7% of their workforce it will be huge news as well.

[acedoh]

Is not large. When is 5% a big number??? Generally many of the companies that have cut back have made cuts of 20 to 50%. Now that is big. This is just another story of the hundreds that have come thru in regards to job cuts.

[LiquifiedArt]

... What a waste of time to even post this nonsense. 13yr old bloggers who love the xbox...FTW..

[Nathan Drake]

Nothing.

[Aclay]

Will the EA empire fall in 2009 as well? EA posted a net loss of 310 million and slashed 600 jobs. NO, EA isn't going anywhere.

http://www.thegamereviews.c...

Many companies around the world have cut jobs in this economy, but does that mean that they will "fall"... NO. The companies are just doing what is necessary to cut costs, remain profitable, and stay afloat in a tough economy.

If Microsoft announced that they were going to cut jobs because of the lack of demand for Windows Vista or lack of demand for the Zune, does that mean that the Xbox 360 is "doomed" and the Microsoft empire will "fall".... NO!!! The Zune isn't exactly the hottest MP3 player on the market, and I really wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft scaled back on production for the Zune sometime in the near future.

Seriously, the people/kids that write these useless "blog" articles must forget that Sony's overall business does not rely only on Playstation. Sony makes Digital Cameras, HDTV, Laptops, Headsets, Blu-ray players, DVD Players and plenty of other electronic devices, it's not just Playstation. If Sony cuts jobs in some of their other business sectors, it doesn't mean that the entire Playstation business and the company itself will "fall".

[acedoh]

It was just announced Motorstorm 2 hit one million. Which makes this game very profitable. Add in Resistance 2 and Little Big Planet both hitting at least that number and I am sure SONY is happy looking at the bottom line. EA on the other hand has released a slew of games that have floundered.

[Darkseider]

Wow... just wow. This article is such a lame ass attempt at hits it isn't even funny. Sony lays off 8,000!! and? MS lost 11 Billion USD on Vista, 3.8 Billion on XBox, 1.3 Billion on RRoD. Yet you don't see articles that say.. "Will the MS Empire Fall in 2009". This is what happens when the mental midgets write opinion pieces and the other mental midgets take them to heart. In the meantime I'll go with the S&P review of Sony.

[iMad]

That is Sony who started this gen with a lie.
Now Sony takes what deserves.

[Darkseider]

The PS3 does everything they said it would do. It has awesome games, plays HD movies on Blu-Ray, is a media center and can be used as a PC with an install of Linux. I fail to see the lie. MS stated that Vista would be more secure, it isn't. They also marketed computers as "Vista Ready" which they weren't, were taken to court over it and LOST. MS lied about not abusing its' monopoly position and were then found guilty on that as well. How about MS statement that the XBox 360 failure is well within the norm? 33%+ failure rate of a commercial product regardless of its' nature is WAY OUTSIDE the norm. Yet everyone zeroes in on Sony. There are very few companies in this world that actually innovate, Sony is one of them MS isn't. So please before you label a person or company a liar please think before you speak.

[Oner]

"There are very few companies in this world that actually innovate, Sony is one of them MS isn't."

People have selective memories around here Dark. It gets to be not even worth having a discussion anymore as people are so close minded to real facts. I mean seriously...let's see how many people actually respond to the numbers of how much Vista, The Zune, The original Xbox & the 360's RROD cost MS. Let alone the shear fact we are in a WORLD WIDE RECESSION that affects EVERY business!

[Jihaad_cpt]

America started this whole thing bunch of...

[UnasFortuna]

WTF? Are you serious or just 5 years old? America is not the only country with capitalists that took advantage of the booming economy and housing markets. Countless countries are being ravaged by economic setbacks because they also took advantage of the situation. As always, the economy will rebound. It will take time but it will happen. Now take your arrogant and uneducated behind back to your hut and quit whining about things you don't know diddly about.

[Jihaad_cpt]

Calm down. I was not being serious and just so you know I studied economics. Probablem was lack of restraint from people who went beyond their means, and financial institutions being greedy and letting people hang themselves financially. Some regulation in the American banking sector could have prevented this

[Shane Kim]

"The company's share prices has dropped from over $57 at the beginning of the year, to just $20 today "

Hell yeah, Im buying shares.

[Kleptic]

haha seriously...that could turn around in 6 months...

no...I really am serious...i'm buying shares...

[felidae]

well, all i can say is that i'm happy to own a 360.

ps3 is nice but the price is just too high.

btw, i read that EA's skate 2 is once again inferior on the PS3 - helloooo? wtf is wrong with the devs these days. i thought the PS3 is the lead platform - man, really sad EA.

[hektop]

I would be embarrassed to say I am the owner of a 360 what a piece of crap anyways enjoy your gaylo, Sony will be just fine

[ToastyMcNibbles]

last time i checked skate 2 was being lead developed on ps3
http://www.n4g.com/ps3/News...

[rogimusprime]

I'll feel sorry for you when your xbox bricks and you have nothing else to play :)

If you owned both systems like me then you would have room to talk, as well as options.

I love my xbox, but the hardware sucks and you know it. Everytime I play for more than 2 hours I start to feel guilty, not because of the time I'm wasting, but because I'm playing russian roulette.

BTW, no one cares about EA skate.

[DARK WITNESS]

well everyone has there opinion, i too own both systems...

i love my 360 too, but unlike you i show it no pity at all.

most weekends i am playing on it 4-5 hours or more at a go.

I get home from work on Friday ( if the Mrs is not home ) the xbox goes on by 8 - 9pm and i am on it all night till maybe 3 - 4 am ( none stop with out any breaks ) when i got fallout 3 i played it the first day till about 6am and guess what.... i have never, NEVER had any issues with it.

just thought i would throw that in.

on topic, few days ago it was how ps3 is going to own 2009, now its is there going to be a 2009 for ps3.. Please ! We " gamers " know this is just crap talk both ways !

They are both great systems from great companies who have their faults, but have given me and lots of gamers goodtimes. Sony will go on, M$ will go on. I will enjoy them both in 2009 !

[hektop]

Will die before Sony does

[caffman]

which show the best prices in the UK for all formats so I don't think so

[sak500]

OMG what will happen to my Sony HDTV and Handy cam? Oh wait, the cam's broke 2 years in its life i never bothered to repair it. The 50" has crossed its warranty period but I believe it will outlast the PS3s life.

[Relientk77]

where has Bitterwallet been?

The Sony Empire will RISE in 2009

Killzone 2, GT5, FF13, Uncharted 2, Infamous, WKC, etc

[ElementX]

Thought it was supposed to rise this year?

[SmokeyMcBear]

20 bucks a share... time buy buy buy.... 2 years.. double or triple your investment

[hektop]

Just keep this in mind, I promise it will happen

[Sir_Ken_Kutaragi]

It's Negative SONY/PS3 News today on this SH*T site!!! :-/
(Just 1 click and i could Delete this site forever!!!)

[caffman]

go on please

[Irishrocket69]

If Rorschach says so, it will be true. Hrmm.

[GiantEnemyCrab]

Hrm..

Is that why N4G was down for a good part of the day?? Too much negative $ony news getting out and the SDF had to shut it down with Ken pulling the plug.

The truth is out there!

[hektop]

EXCLUSIVE: Microsoft To Lay Off 1,500 In California; 200 In L.A.

jerryyang.jpgMicrosoft, via an email from departing CEO Jerry Yang, told its California employees that on Wednesday, as many as 1,500 employees will be tossed, inside sources confided to FBLA.

microimage.jpgNo details were available regarding the email, but one employee who read it said Yang talked about the need to make cutbacks. This was in keeping with his statement in mid-November that Yahoo! would have to layoff as much as 10% of its global workforce. He targeted Dec. 10 as D-Day for these employees.

In her technology blog All Things Digital, Kara Swisher said Yang had told her in October that layoffs were a distinct possibility and described them as "consolidation and organizational corrections."

"We're asking ourselves -- should we sell it or should we shut it down?" Yang said. "That is the kind of comprehensive look we are doing across the company."

The layoffs, which could ultimately number as high as 2,000, are generally across the board, but human resources will likely take the biggest hit because their expenses are cost-based and most of their costs are staff.

Swisher said employees will be told Wednesday, but FBLA sources saw the email on Monday afternoon. Staff is supposedly allowing for a "normal seperation period," but that could mean that employees will have to exit within a few hours of being told.

Swisher's sources said Yahoo executives are not expecting any serious problems like extremely upset employees because the layoffs have been long in coming. Security will be present, however, at its Sunnyvale headquarters and presumably in Los Angeles.

Most employees do not know if they will be let go yet, Swisher maintained, because the cuts have not yet been made public.

Microsoft is playing it close to the vest because entire projects might be eliminated and the secrecy allows time to restructure further if necessary.

Swisher conjectures that rumors have surfaced of whole divisions being juggled among the bigger managers presumably to stake out territory before a new CEO is installed.

Meanwhile, Yang has not officially left his slot, though he said last month that he was planning on leaving.

[caffman]

its yahoo who are losing people which is normal when one firm takes over another

[hetz15]

MS will fall first...

then Sony..

[DA_SHREDDER]

Sony already has games on the system that separates itself from the competition. Also, Sony has 15 exclusive announced games coming next year. Thats not including the 5 exclusive rpg's and 12 announced games coming. Lets also not forget about all of the killer downloadable ps2 and psn games coming out next year. The big firmware updates are gonna be including cross game voice and video chat, and last but not least all of this years games that will be getting dlc like LBP, Motorstorm 2, R2, and much much more. Sony has been around for 15 years, and I dont see them going because of a couple of hiccups that hit them in the past couple of years. The ps3 just turned 2,, wtf is wrong with the media and you people?

[reelife]

MS's gaming departement have bribed like ever f*cking company, they never demanded any money for the repairs of the 360, the line up for the exclusives suck ass in 09.

Sony's gaming department is fine, they are cutting 8000 jobs, and please remember that this is a global company. 8000 is nothing compared to the total of the workers. They got a perfect gaming line up for 09.

I think both company's will be fine.

[THE_BATTLERAGER]

Without a console competitor (wii targets a different audience) you could assume that M$ would do what they do best and quickly capitalize on there near monopoly. That is bad for gamers.

Which actually makes me wonder, when will fanboys realise that console competition makes gaming strong. Does anyone seriously think that the 360 or PS3 would be even close to what they are now without the motivation that competition brings. Look at windows for example. Lets face it..vista is not worth what it brings to the table.

[Gue1]

PS1 and PS2 didn't have any competition and were the best consoles.

I think the PS3 would had come the same even if MS were competing or not. If you read Sony's thought about the PS3 when they released the PS2 the PS3 came exactly like they were saying. Sony said: "Half of the PS1 was the cd drive, half of the PS2 is the DVD drive and the half of the PS3 is going to be the internet." The Cell and Home were in development even before the GameCube and Xbox launched... Or at least they were planing it.

I think the PS3 would have been better if MS weren't competing in the industry because their early release of the X360 forced Sony to rush out the the system too.

Why you think there were so few games at launch? and most of the big hits are coming like, 3 almost 4 years later? Because if Sony launched the PS3 when they were thinking the X360 would had captured most of the audience and things would have been worse for Sony than they are right now.

What you prefer? Three consoles with varied and good games or only one console with all the games? It's is better to have only one console instead of three but MS saw thet the video games industry was a gold mine with only two console... A third could easily have a share of that money. MS is one of the most hated company's in the planet but they still one of the most profitable. How is that???????

I'm starting to think MS invented the Monopoly game.

[THE_BATTLERAGER]

like the saturn
And the PS2 had the gamecube to fight, luckily for Sony it was vastly inferior to the playstation but Sony weren't to know that until it launched. So they still tried hard to innovate to counter what nintendo MIGHT offer. And microsoft had just entered the market with an entirely new console. The likes of the PS2's dominance are unlikely to come again.

Also if there was no xbox do you really think PSN would be free, or be as good as it is now. If they didn't have any pressure, home would be another year in coming and trophies wouldn't exist. And firmware updates would come out slower.

A monopoly or even near monopoly is never EVER a good thing.

Lol if the PS3 had come 4 years later then that would be terrible, you'd have to wait even longer for the next gen to come out. Another 4 years of PS2 graphics while the PC's race ahead and laugh at you.
Waiting that long would kill consoles.

[majorsuave]

WTF? Isn't Celine Dion a top of the crop product?

Yep that's right, she's a product.

[Gue1]

Sony is no Sega man...

[Light Yagami]

The thing is Microsoft makes billions of dollars a month and sony doesn't. they are losing money.

[Graphics Whore]

Sony makes more revenue and Microsoft makes more profit. Microsoft is a primarily a software company that marks up it's goods more than 100% as Sony is primarily a hardware company that can mark up goods 25-35%, whom also has to pay the chain gang.

[UnwanteDreamz]

http://www.theinquirer.net/...

http://www.contentagenda.co...

Want more?

[40cal]

LOLOLOLOL

Wow you have no clue bro.

http://moneycentral.msn.com...
http://moneycentral.msn.com...

Start here then go learn something about money and markets. You know the stuff that makes the world go around.

[solsub]

How is it possible for such an idiot to have so many bubbles?

[Graphics Whore]

Wow I never said Microsoft is doing good, they make around the same.

[UnwanteDreamz]

I can't speak for the rest but my comments were for the OP.

[ultimolu]

...*sigh*

I'm going to sell my PS3 now. Wish me luck in finding a buyer.

/major sarcasm

[Light Yagami]

It's time to write PS3 on my notebook.

[UnwanteDreamz]

Something told me you were 12. I hear a new Poke-E-man game is coming out. That should make your Christmas wishes come true.

[EndHawkstrike]

Doesnt interest me a ****.I go to gamestop and buy a Xbox 360.In march 2009 I will buy a Xbox 360 along with Resident Evil 5.Whats the problem?

[EndHawkstrike]

They dont gave a s*** about us europeans.They feed us with uber-hyper delays,no limited editions,dualshock 3 came later in eu,playstation home etc.Get what you deserve you dogs.

[0verdrive]

yet europe is the ps3s strongest market...

go europe!

[likedamaster]

"yet europe is the ps3s strongest market..."

probably not for long.

[0verdrive]

lol are you kidding me? 360 has been on the market for TWICE as long, and they have comparable install bases there. 360 would have to sell 2:1 for another year and a half in order to be considered "on par" sales with the ps3

[caffman]

because competition is the best thing for gamers to be honest!

[DMasta718]

One of the worst articles I've ever seen. Wow.

[Surfman]

AHHH CMON
this is going ridiculous. Thats why Sony has problem now, so many haters, and they hate Sony for no good reasons. They make people think Sony is doing bad, but they are not. Check this website, who is approving this...
Seriously, Microsoft is not doing better.

[Surfman]

report this

[40cal]

SNE quote (NYSE Exchange - quotes delayed 15 min)
20.99 up +0.95 +4.74%
Previous Close 20.04 Bid 20.98
Open 20.52 Bid Size 100
Day's High 21.16 Ask 20.99
Day's Low 20.32 Ask Size 200
Volume 1.15 Mil 52 Week High 57.19
Avg. Daily Vol. (13 wk.) 1.80 Mil 52 Week Low 18.09

MSFT quote (NASDAQ Exchange - quotes delayed 15 min)
21.20 up +0.19 +0.90%
Previous Close 21.01 Bid 21.19
Open 20.62 Bid Size 11,800
Day's High 21.25 Ask 21.20
Day's Low 20.57 Ask Size 6,400
Volume 34.69 Mil 52 Week High 36.72
Avg. Daily Vol. (13 wk.) 108.71 Mil 52 Week Low 17.50

If these guys want to talk about 52 week highs and lows then lets talk about it.

Sony 52 Week High 57.19 52 Week Low 18.09
Microsoft 52 Week High 36.72 52 Week Low 17.50

If "the Sony Empire fall in 2009" then Microsoft is going first by there logic. What a bunch of retards.

[solsub]

Very well said.

[ultimolu]

I suggest everyone play their favorite games, do something fun and ignore these stupid ass articles.

[40cal]

"Sony simply isn’t famous for anything in particular, and hasn’t been for years. Televisions, laptops, speakers, DVD players"

Um, OK? Blu-Ray, Vaio, Cyber Shot, Bravia, Playstation anyone?

[digger18]

Microsoft had to sell nearly all their 1st party studios (one studio left I think) to get them out of the red, but I didn't see any sites/Blogs b!tch about them. But now Sony has just got rid of some small parts of its company, then all hell breaks out and they are going down the pan!!

Talk about bullsh!t coming from fanboy sites and Bloggers.

[Citizen Cook]

They deserve it...
They dont gave a sh!t about us europeans.
They feed us with uber-hyper delays,no limited editions,dualshock 3 came later in eu...
Playstation home etc...

You FAIL DROIDS!

Two games companies are plenty!

Sega and Nintendo
M$ and Nintendo

No room for a failstation!

[locos85]

Sony will only get stronger from here on out!!

[Bishop]

some RPG's Sony.

Times are hard for everyone right now but it would be a good time to invest in a company, who has the potential to rebound in the next few years.

[xg-ei8ht]

I don't think sony realised that idiots would still be buying the 360 even though it still has a 15% fail rate. Still can scratch discs.rofl.

The only thing sony did wrong was the price.

[Marquis_de_Sade]

'only'? The price of a console is one of the key selling points, its quite a big 'only mistake' to make.

[bviperz]

One of the cuts is for the factory in France that manufacture tapes (among other things) which was first reported a couple of weeks ago. With all this gloom and doom talk going some people are ignoring the 'why' factor. Hell, common sense tells you close the factory which is making an 'obsolete' product. Do any of you use VHS/Cassette tapes on a daily basis? Do you even buy them? Are they even on sale (retail, not ebay)? I don't, so I agree with the move.

[GWAVE]

If Sony fails, video games may very well be doomed. We'd only be left with Micro-"Buy, Brag, Borrow, Bribe"-soft and Nint-"no need for tech advances"-endo, and that would be a sad day.

Of course, Sony failing is about as likely as Microsoft failing, since we've seen Microsoft make many similar cutbacks within the last year. I don't see why Sony gets singled out....well, actually I DO see why Sony gets singled out, but you XBox fanboys don't want to hear the truth.

[Marquis_de_Sade]

How many more of these "Will(Insert console/company name) fail in 2009?" articles do we have to go through -_-

[Main_Street_Saint]

Far too many to count friend, "Like the grains of sand in the desert."

[tako2000]

Woa~ and they said gamer don't care about economic XD

Anyway, I don't think Sony will "fall" at 2009. Yes, they are cutting job and yes they are reducing factory plant and yes they are trying to change corporation structure to survive.

But still its too early to say Sony going to "fall", the bad economic is affecting whole world rather then just Sony.

Analysis is good at evaluate situation base on data and "their" analysis, but they can't see the future.

[GiantEnemyCrab]

What?

Oh we are on Deathwatch now?

The question was just asked yesterday "Is Sony Doomed?" and now they are on Deathwatch.

What are we back in 07 again?

[SSCOOLCHEA]

sony only gets single out by these xbots ..who can't afford sony...I mean there mom and dad can't afford sony . anyone who can afford a sony will buy a sony .

@ citizen cook

11 - Sony have had this coming for a LONG while!
They deserve it...
They dont gave a sh!t about us europeans.
They feed us with uber-hyper delays,no limited editions,dualshock 3 came later in eu...
Playstation home etc...

You FAIL DROIDS!

Two games companies are plenty!

Sega and Nintendo
M$ and Nintendo

No room for a failstation!

your dumbazz took the time to right this. You still don't own anything sony you broke azz. I don't know if anyone can take what you wrote there serious ...just wow . what retard ... You f@ggots xbot fanboys deserve the xbot. please don't buy a ps3 ..

[Enigma_2099]

... if the PS3 is retired in 2009, I won't question ANYTHING else said about it on this site...

[Main_Street_Saint]

Sony would retire the Playstation 3 next year as they are really having a lot of momentum right now and unless something rather drastic where to occur that could be construed as a business version of 'an act of God' then I wouldn't hold my breath.

[greengunstar]

You have got to be kidding me...Seriously?

[Mikey Mike]

http://finance.yahoo.com/q?...

[CLiP5E]

I was just looking at the same thing Mikey.

MS opened at $35 this year and is currently at $20.60

I bet MS wont make any announcements regarding cuts but you know they are feeling the economy pains as well. Not to mention how they are struggling in their other divisions.

[Main_Street_Saint]

It seems more and more these days with the worldwide economic problems that the vultures gather around the bodies that aren't dead yet. Sony is nowhere near dead and while the times are hard, they are doing fine. The PS3 is really picking up momentum now and their other divisions are doing fairly well too.

And before anyone points out that they slashed profit expectations, a profit is still a profit, not a loss.

While I don't a PS3, I do think that Sony is a pretty good company with a lot of great electronic innovations. The playstation brand, the walkman (and later morphing in the the discman) and so many other electronics that many of us enjoy today come from Sony and should they disappear so goes a lot of devices that could have been but wouldn't since they would be out of business.

I wouldn't wish death on any company and it saddens me to a rather large degree when people gleefully call out dead companies like a perverted version of the "Bring out your dead" joke from "Monty Python and the Holy grail." When a company dies that means a lot of people are out of work and I know that no one likes having no job (not usually anyhow) and when companies go under, there goes a ton of jobs with them.

Sony isn't dead and we shouldn't continue to propagate such a myth without some real proof that removes all reasonable doubt.

[robotnik]

Enjoy your poor mans console, the flopbox fixme

[laid2rest]

this article is just plain stupid and thats that.

[greasymonkey]

What is up with all these PS3 will fall articles? This is obviously a business action that is required in this bad economy times. Every company is laying off people. On top of that, didn't Sony said this will not affect the Gaming Division? Geez, there are so many haters of Sony out there. People willing to buy that cheap box 360 rather than a more reliable system.

[Radiodread]

while the ps3 is for the men, who don't cry in denial all the time like 360 fans do.

[XBOX360ftw]

Let's just hope so, so the 360 can ALWAYS stay in the lead.