You aren’t their target market with this move…
I know that. I’m just saying that even the market they’re targeting should be like “no thanks” because why would anyone pay $300 for an obsolete console that will be even more obsolete in another year, isn’t worth anything and that consumer would still at some point have to buy a PS5? In my opinion, at this point in time, it’s a waste of money.
Who is the target market for this old expensive hardware?
It likely won’t be expensive imho. They are likely to drop the price to keep it competitive with XSS, even if that means selling it at a loss or near a breakeven point. This is aimed at ppl who are new to console gaming and looking at getting into an ecosystem. Their end goal is to get those customers into Sony’s ecosystem instead of Xbox’s.
I doubt it will be $300 all year long.
It’s not that it’s a dumb idea, rather the better solution to take within the selective options. Have they made a Series S-like console, they will no doubt aim for that to produce more. Since they don’t, the next best action is producing PS4 more than originally planned. The problem is the amount of new customer. Xbox doesn’t have as much as PS, so Series S being seen as next-gen and open window for any new member to join is a great advantage. I know PS4 will still sell, but if you replace it with PS5 Series S version, you will undoubtedly get a lot more.
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Maybe Japan and other markets outside of NA. Didn’t the PS4 outsell the XSX/XSS in Japan in 2021. Might not be a big market for the PS4 anymore but it’s still enough to sell the 1 million units they’ll be making worldwide.
If Sony are going to be launching something akin to Gamepass, and then in turn something akin to Xbox Game Streaming, the PS4 being sold as a Series S competitor would make sense. It’s also not that much of a surprise, the PS2 and PS3 lasted well into the next generation.
I think the take away here should be the short sighted statement of “we believe in generations” not so much coming back to haunt them, per se, but certainly was investor talk - we want to launch this at a rough time - and not for the general consumers.
What is absolutely true is that the Series S was a master stroke. Confused everyone, much like the mixed messaging around the original launch of the Switch (is it a home console or a handheld, turned into $$$), and the killing of the One X and S makes a lot of sense when you can sell through a Gamepass ready machine.
The million PS4 are not much series s competition in my opinion because the number of units is so low. Xbox will be producing of 10 million or more Series S compared to 1 million PS4.
Sony can’t just conjure up an XSS competitor out of thin air. Those take yrs to design, test, develop. To say nothing of the fact that they have titles that would have to be remade to run on that lower end device. So yeah, that isn’t really a viable option to target that lower end market.
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As did the original PlayStation. The re-designed version, the PS One, was launched the same year as the PS2 and even outsold the PS2 that first year. They kept selling it throughout the entire PS2 generation, and didn’t discontinue it until the launch of the PS3.
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To whoever is confused by this move: it’s probably safe to assume that Sony are relying on numbers and future plans you don’t have any way of knowing! And even if this move doesn’t make sense to us, the incredibly small minority who are intense enough about video games that we sign up for forums to yell about them, it doesn’t mean that it’s a bad business decision. Better to get ten bucks from a hundred people than a thousand from one, after all.
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It’s not that it doesn’t make sense. It’s just the competitor has a better option or better strategy. Stopping production on Xbox One in favor for Series S is a smarter move, especially when the latter is basically treated as such. PS5 doesn’t have alternative and digital edition isn’t it. It’s the same minus the drive in which chip shortage/yield reflects more on elsewhere.
Bottom line, it’s the better option for Sony to take, but not the best in compare.
I mean sure, if the Series S was the smartest move to make (that “if” is because I have no way of knowing) then a PS5 Series S would be a better way to go than a PS4. But there’s nothing Sony can really do about that so they’re making the best choice they can manage without affecting their main PS5 paradigm. Not really worth discussing if it just boils down to that kind of observation I guess. If we’re making up stuff they should have done, they would probably prefer to have made more PS5s.
Series S will be probably turn out a thorn on Sony’s side this generation. They don’t want you to buy a Series S and get invested in the Xbox ecosystem and more PS4 consoles along with the upcoming cross-gen games is their way to counter that, as you said they don’t have a better choice.
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Is it base ps4 or pro? If I’m forced to buy a ps4 because I can’t get a ps5 to play God of war 2…I’m going to get a temporary pro. No way I’m playing it on base.
As far as I know…they stopped making pros last year
Not only does Xbox have better options but they didn’t start this gen trying to dunk on their competition and score PR points and then back track on everything they mocked MS for.
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It will be the PS4. There was no point making the Pro as soon as the PS5 was released because there is a bit of overlap and it is more expensive to make the Pro.
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I’m not buying a PS4. So I’ll have to find a Ps5 by then. Even PRo prices online are 400+. I’m annoyed at myself for selling my pro couple years back. What a stupid idea that was.
Don’t beat yourself up, you probably couldn’t know how things would shake out. Hope you manage to find a PS5 by the time you feel you need one 
Genuinely asking, how does a prospective gamer not invest in the Xbox Ecosystem while buying a PS4. I don’t think those things are mutually exclusive.