How do you know this?

Or maybe because they don't want to lose $400 on each unit like they did with the PS3.

Cheaper components doesnt mean worse components per se. It means these compnents are more widely available due to mass production and demand, driving the prices down.
On the other hand, we shall see with time. I wasnt too excited about the PS2, since mine broke down (the laser). I heard some stories of PS3's doing the same (i didnt get one). I just hope that issue with theirs drives is behind them with the PS4. We dont need more red-rings of death. Wich leads us to the next Xbox... who is gonna buy that at launch and take the risks?

Cheap? It's not cheap. We already know that. The RAM alone is going to be expensive. It just won't have extremely expensive new-to-market components like the Cell and the Blu-Ray player were at the PS3 launch.

This is just someone else in the mobile/tablet market trying to push their product by saying consoles are dead. We get this on a continuous basis.

My PS2 Slim is made of cheaper components than my original PS2 Fat. I love my PS2 Slim more.

@half price ps4 will still be $400..

...not sure if this is really defensive against tablet or just a reality check that last gen they had a bad business strategy.

well apple products are just foxconn parts, those are cheap parts. Dell uses them also last i checked. So it doesn't matter to me as long as i can get a warranty with it.

Why would anyone be disappointed ?

Sony has been very clear about PS4 specs so far.   The new console is a big leap forward from PS3, but this time Sony isn't doing anything crazy like they did in 2006.

This was expected if Sony wanted to make the console cheaper, and overall, I'm happy they will do that. I don't mind if the console has cheaper parts as long as the console looks good on the outside.

Sony might have been the first company to acknowledge and adjust to the changing landscape. Whole focus on the hardcore audience has been the strategy for the past few years now. Nintendo attempted another casual push with their tablet controller, and it failed. If the entire dedicated market is shrinking, nintendo won't be able to compete against PS4/720 on any level. Still don't know what microsoft has to offer, but if it's too casual they might be positioning themselves poorly.

But yeah, the industry is completely changing. It wouldn't be surprising to see any of the big three eventually bow out of the dedicated market. Too much money to be made off smartphones and tablets. It could actually be the best business decision any of these companies make, considering the cost and slow death spiral of the dedicated hardware market. Vita is dead, 3DS is just...there, and Wiiu has failed already. Bad times all around.

PlayStation*Mobile and WindowsMobile are the future. Nintendo needs to get it's software on mobile devices and stop wasting time losing.