Every day that Sony waits before bringing the PS3 to market means that Microsoft is selling more of its gaming consoles.
When the dust settles in three years or so, Sony will be back up on top. But it will be a close race,
They are the leader in handheld gaming, but they fell behind when Sony launched the network-enabled PSP device, while the Nintendo DS lacked that capability.
The marketplace is very different today than it was 10 years ago when Sony dominated the industry. It's not a clear-cut case of, if they get their act together, they'll own this space?. The space has become too competitive.