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Forums - Gaming Discussion - What is the reason behind the PS4K?

If the rumours are true Sony develops a better version of the highly succesful PS4. But why? The system already sells great, where is the need of a newer model? Why not ride on the strong sales and harvest all those fat, greasy profits? Please don't say that console manufacturers start building new consoles after the last one launched. As far as it seems, this is no PS5. And 4K resolution alone? If that's the reason behind it, do you really think you would be willing to pay a whole new console? Is this maybe somehow linked to PSVR? And if so, how?

Or does Sony simply need to do something regarding the launch of NX? Is the PS4K simply a strategic response to Nintendos next console?



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They sell 4K televisions, and also make blurays, it's simply a smart move because they can be the first to jump on the 4K train, and if people want a 4k player pretty cheap, it may be the way to go.

There's actually quite a few reasons it makes sense.



Sony probably wants to push UHD blurays with the PS4K as an UHD bluray player. Maybe they also hope to push the 4K TVs as well.

4K wont be for gaming. The PS4 and XBO use a custom AMD APU chip which means the CPU and GPU is together on one chip (DIE). Can't see enough power for 4K gaming on an APU chip.

  This doesn't have to do with the NX, expect the NX will be also able to play UHD blurays. Then yes, this could be a reaction to the NX by Sony.



To get more money



if PS4K is real and has a clear edge in processing power (not just 4K movie support) then the reason for it probably is that the 28nm APU can't be shrunk without disproportional effort

the APU is the most expensive part of the console and reducing it's prize usually comes down to lowering the die size as wafer costs are pretty much constant and the more chips you can produce from a wafer the lower is the cost per unit

shrinking from 28nm to finfet (14/16nm) afaik is much more complex than it was before (and even before it could cost tens of millions of dollars), but AMD does have architectures ready for mass market that can be produced in the finfet process in Zen and Polaris, yet just slapping those on a die with the same specs as in the PS4 can result in games produced for the old APU not working as intendend (architectural differences), so you want to go with a chip that outperforms the old one in pretty much every stat to brute force through possibly less efficient execution of the game code

I think Sony may see this as an opportunity to use a clearly more powerful chip that can be sold at higher margins but costs the same or even less than the current PS4 APU to produce (especially when yields improve and the cost of using the new finfet process comes down)



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-Fans complaining that the current gen consoles are already underpowered.
-Make some PS4 owners doubledip.
-Try to push 4K TVs the same way the PS3 pushed BlueRays.
-Block some the initial NX's release hype (and probably the XBox Two) by releasing a new product close to the new console.



You know it deserves the GOTY.

Come join The 2018 Obscure Game Monthly Review Thread.

-Sony want to rejouvenate their hardware market so they can delay the introduction of the PS5 til after 2020. Introducing a new SKU is 100x cheaper then introducing a new console.
-Sony want to deter PS4 users from moving to PC later in the generation? I remember when PS3/360 really started showing its age, thats when I really considered getting into PC gaming.
-Sony protecting themselves against the NX and an early Xbox 2 arrival (2018?)
-Sony testing the waters for what is likely the future of the industry, upgradable SKUs



Thanks for the oppinions so far. I wonder how high the sales potential is considering two thirds of this community are still fine with 720p. But that's a question about how representative we are, I guess.



Lafiel said:


I think Sony may see this as an opportunity to use a clearly more powerful chip that can be sold at higher margins but costs the same or even less than the current PS4 APU to produce (especially when yields improve and the cost of using the new finfet process comes down)

Yeah, this would be more profitable then the usual  slim SKU which often arrives with a pricecut (negating much of profit margin gain from the cheaper production).



Since they came into the market, Sony learned that they could manage two consoles at once. If they release a PS4K, it's most likelly as a counter-measure to Nintendo's "NX".

And they know that "it'd be alright".