863 billion, then decreased it in 2007 by $603 million. Last year, with the stronger flows from operations and decreased stock retirement, they increased their cash position by $4.288 billion.

As with Microsoft, Sony has seen a strong increase in cash flows from operations over the past three years. They have increased 89.4% from ¥399 billion to ¥757 billion. This improvement is only partly attributable to top line improvement, as Sony's starting line hardly improved at all in 2007. Instead, that year saw a significant shift in the change in working capital. With regards to investing activities, Sony has not increased its capital expenditures over this time period. Also unlike Microsoft, Sony has seen significant capital outflows in all three years from its investments. They have enjoyed inflows from other activities, but not enough to offset the increasing losses. Sony has consistently been able to increase its cash flows from...
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