Rumor: Sony plans to launch the PS5 and PS5 Pro at the same time.

[KBG29]

twintail said:

KBG29 said:

It is not that hard to sell this. If they price it right, they will put it out of the mind of the 90% of the audience. That is how every other product works. You offer improvements that matter to the 10%, and price it in a range that the 90% don't see the value in the minor improvements, and won't even take a second look. If the Pro is priced high enough, the focus will be around excitement for the Base PS5, while only the enthusiast gamers will even pay attention to the Pro.

Additionally, again, if they played this move correct, the Pro would be sold at a healthy profit margin. PS5 Base may cost $450 and sell for $499.99, while PS5 Pro would be something like $850 to build, and sell for $999.99. That is how business works with Enthusiast level products, with low sales volumes. This also gives them breathing room if they overestimate the demand for such a unit. If all goes well the make good profits on each one, if they are not selling what they produce, there is plenty of room to drop the price, and continue to profit on the unit, and spur more interest.

As for tech advanacing. That is always the case. The person going in to spend $999.99 on a console day one, or $10,000 on a Television, knows that in 2 or 3 years, a product that outperforms what they are buying will be available for less than what they are paying today. That is not an issue for this demographic. These are the people that will by the PS5 Pro X or whatever in 2023 that is another $999.99 investment. Why, because it offers the absolute best in console gaming, and they want to have the cutting edge experience.

I wouldn't say this is very convincing. Comparing it to TVs doesn't make sense when you consider that TV's having varying models has been part of that industry (and many others) for many many years. Consoles have always been a 1 item affair with redesigns through the gen.

TV's also don't have gens, and are updated on a yearly schedule. This is not true of the gaming industry. Likewise, each TV also has various sizes within it's own line, meaning that buyers have a lot of flexibility available to them. It's not as simple as "here's a $5000 model and here's a better $10000 model". There are different ranges, and different price points within those ranges. 

you are proposing just 2 consoles which limits flexibility incredibly. 

i also doubt that the focus will never be on what makes the 2 different, and whether those differences will impact the base ps5. Also, I just don't see the market for a $999 console.

Consoles have semi traditionally been a single spec through the generation, but there are plenty of examples of that not being the case as well. More recently, having multiple sku's has become the norm. With PS Vita you had the Wifi and 3G model, 3DS had the base and New 3DS, with PS4 we had the Base and Pro, XBO had Base, S, and X, and now Switch has the Base and the Lite (and likely more to come).

Industries change over time. Look at the iPhone as a recent example. It started off as a single spec device, then they slowly launched more and more options. Now we have 3 iPhones launching simultaneously. This has only happened over a 12 year period. Consoles been playing with multiple offerings for almsot a decade now, going back to DS. Consumers are a lot smarter than people want to give them credit for. They can tell what iPhone or Galaxy model is right for them by watching YouTube or looking at model in the store, or just good old fashion research online. These people will be perfectly capable of discoverying what PS5 is right for them. 

TV's don't have publicized generations, but there is a lot more to the cycle than yearly updates. If you watch TV's closely, most manufactures have a good 3 - 5 year life cycle where it is mostly iteration on the same thing. With so many competitors each gen is not as clear cut as in consoles, but they actually follow a very similar pattern to consoles. The sheer volume of TV's a range could be simulated with the consoles as well. The Base PS5 could come with a 1TB SSD for $499.99, 2TB for $599.99, and 4TB for $699.99, while the PS5 Pro comes with 2TB for $999.99, 4TB for $1,099.99, or 8TB for $1,299.99.  

I'm only going off the idea that they are launching a Base and a Pro, and will keep it simple at launch, but their is no reason they couldn't do the multiple SSD sizes, especially if the SSD is non user changable. My overall proposal doesn't stop at just 2 options though. I do believe that as the generation progresses, and 5nm and 3nm fabrication becomes available that new high end models should be offered while the low end models take advanatage of the shrink to drop in price. 

At a simple level of 3 SKU's by 2023, I would look at something like PS5 Base $399.99 (Dynamic Resolution and Frame Rates upto 4K/60), PS5 Pro $699.99 (4K/60 in every title), PS5 Platinum $999.99 (Dynamic Resolution and Frame Rates upto 8K/120). Then moving to 2026 and 3nm, you would have the Base PS5 at $299.99, Pro at $499.99, Platinum at $699.99, and PS5 FE (Final Edition) $999.99 (Native 8K/60 or 4K/120 on most titles). That would give a good amount of options depending on what supporting tech the consumer has. Someone with a 4K TV should never even be considering a Platinum or Final Edition, and someone with an 8K TV should have no interest in a Base or Pro model. If an 8K TV guy doesn't care about 8K gaming though, and a Pro with 4K/60 will do the trick, then they can grab that PS5 Pro for $499.99 in 2026 to go with their new 8K TV. Then you have the kid getting the old family 1080p Family Room TV while the Family room gets a new $400 4K Model, and that kid can look forward to a $299.99 PS5 Base model for their birthday or christmas.

I don't know what to say about the lack of vision for a market of people wanting a $999.99 Ethusiast level gaming console. I guess it might sound crazy right now, but who thought there would be a market for a $999.99 Phone 10 years ago, or who thinks there is a market for a $3,000 Walkman right now? There are billions of people out there. It only takes a few million to make a successful high profit margin, enthusiast level product. Tie it in with something that already has the OS, Software, and R&D covered, and it is no more than free money from those willing to pay.