Slightly off topic but SONY is bringing out a 24 mega pixel full frame camera aren't they? I would say that shows commitment.
If you're old enough to remember Betamax as a consumer video format, you'll understand that Sony will ditch a losing horse no matter what sort of money they put into it if it doesn't do well in the market.
Another issue is that the camcorder business unit may be larger, and is definitely more established and may decide that stills from video are the way to go- now which division wins? (Remember Sony Music vs. the mp3 player from the Electronics Division?)
Finally, I'd bet the sensor fab division is run separately and isn't managerially tied to the dSLR folks other than in a slightly incestuous customer relationship (hence Sony reportedly fabing sensors for Nikon.)
In fact, in Q4 '06 the semiconductor business unit results were reported primarily as increased profits based on "sales of PS3 chips" prior to the reporting of the PS3 sales Obviously, if Sony America and Sony Corporation think that reporting sales to themselves is significant for that business unit, then they're not all that tied to the other individual business units, or they'd have reported the increases sales more visibly under the unit selling PS3s.
Laptop battery replacements hit Sony very hard financially, and they're closing plants, ending lines and laying off workers- it's not LIKELY that they'll drop the K-M investment that quickly, but the picture isn't all rosy:
Although we are not announcing any additional manufacturing facility closures today, we plan to achieve our goal in this category during the fiscal year ended March 2008. We have already achieved, as of the quarter ended December 2006, the 20% model count reduction, 10,000 person headcount reduction, and YEN 120 billion asset sale goals we had set for ourselves.
Of the 15 product categories we intended to eliminate or shrink, 10 have already been announced and today we are announcing three additions to this list: computer display, CRT projection TV, and standard desktop computers.
Anyway, I don't think Sony's got an impending problem that'll make them ditch the K-M purchase, but long-term I wonder if it's profitable enough and if it will fit in strategically with the other units and partnerships.
Edit: FWIW, I wonder a lot at the practicality of Sony bringing out a high megapixel FF body- Canon's FF high-end sales aren't that significant, and all the MF players are starting to drop prices pretty significantly- what's the size of the "Have Minolta lenses, need an ultra-high resolution body" crowd? The argument that new photographers looking for a FF high-res body are going to go Sony over Canon with an impending Nikon body this year doesn't look all that good to me. Therefore, I see it as more of a marketing move than a product move- though I suppose if they're (theoretically) going to fab for Nikon, they'll have the sensor source and it's not all that big a deal to add a body to their own line based on parts/line availability.
