If you've opened a newspaper, turned on the TV, or looked at your stock portfolio, you must know the story: the global economy is in shambles. And that hurts large global companies, like Sony. Sony has updated their 2008 forecast, slashing profit expectations 38% to to 150 billion yen ($1.5 billion). A strong yen makes Sony, a export-centric company, do worse. The global downturn in the economy is likely to strongly the affect the sales of their top-ticket items, such as high definition TVs, cameras.In spite of promises to make the PS3 profitable this year, it appears that may be cast in doubt. With the system significantly more expensive than its competitors, and a price drop not likely in the immediate future, this holiday season may not continue PS3's momentum from the beginning of the year. That's a shame too, considering the slew of high quality titles that's just about to come about.
"This is just the beginning of a big earnings collapse," said a Tokyo-based analyst to Forbes.com. "Given the track record of this company, it will under-deliver all the way." He added that there is a "good chance" Sony will post a loss this year.
[Via Joystiq; Image from The Brokers With Hands On Their Faces blog]
