I went into gamestop today to play the PS4 and as I was waiting in line, I was shocked by how many people still thought PSN was free. One guy said, "I'm tired of paying for live" and everyone agreed. I'm sure that the PS4 would've sold almost as well given the consumers they are dealing with.
Does Sony regret it? No. It's always better to have more people buy the console than to make more money short-term by having it being more expensive.