I doubt it. Sony probably knows that unlike when they decided to put a DVD player in the PS2 to drive DVD sales, that the physical movie market is now a nitche market best served by others. So they will save money by putting a drive that costs marginally less which will mean that the console upgrade will stay in the red for a little less time. Though it is not like the PS4 Pro isn't made to drive electronic sales elsewhere, the machine seems to be tailored to help them sell TVs. Especially for those who graphic fedelity means everythig to them, and making it so the machine "gimps" the games according to what display type you have, actually the move was to help games run smoother on lower TV's. So those graphic enthusist that want the best the console has to offer will be more likely to upgrade not only the machine but their TV as well.

It isn't like Sony is abonding the 4k HDR movie crowd but they probally have access to better numbers then we can get our hands on, but it seems they are betting on digital distribution of movies through their store which has the highest chance of growth for them.

The other is about what redisgns are usually for, this console is an upgrade so if they where going to put the drive in the system they would have done it now, a redesign is about cutting costs making the system cheeper to make for the company and demand probally see the drive dropping in price that radically compared to a regular BR drive since disc based media is on the way out. (Which can be one of the reasons why Nintendo went with carts also Flash drives are problally more prevelent then disc based ones now which means they are cheaper, but  that is another thread.)

They prpbably arent, but they also are in the best position to do it. Thats the major benefit of being the market leader. If by the time the scorpio comes around, and there are around 65-70M PS4s in the wild, that gives sony a lot of wiggle room. With an install base that size you can very well afford to lose $50-$100 on hardware cause you have the install base to make up for it. And as soundwave stated, hardware is constantly getting cheaper. So what they stand to lose and for how long they lose that much is minuscule at best of it means they can price their main competitor outta the market. 

And this isn't just wishful thinking, Sony has shown they are willing to do that in the past. Twice.  

And another thing, if Sony just intended to trade blows with the scorpio then they really had no business launching a year early (again being the market leader and all). Doing so and still pushing forward with weaker hardware compared to the scorpio suggests they are gearing up for a price war next year. 

Isn't that like saying you are going to be the most popular steam engine in a world of IC engines?

I think gamers are funny, we are the most experimental when it comes to tech adoption and we also are the most stubborn when it comes to tech obsolesence. 

its no hiddem fact that sales of disc based movies have taken a nose dive. There is extremely limited disc based support for 4k native movie content. And just like we are with BC, gamers will tout the whole 4k disc thing like it's the best thing since sliced bread and end up not even using it.

Just look at the 360 for instance. It didn't even have a bluray drive period. didn't stop it from being the most successful Xbox console so far. 

I know this is anecdotal, but I have not even seen a bluray movie in the last 5yrs much less bought one. The funny thing is that I believe I'm in the majority. 

They are going to save about $400m by not including it.  They are going to sell more ps4's because it's hit that magical $399 price point.  

I'm struggling to see how Sony made a mistake at least in business terms.  

Maybe you could argue it goes against their buyers.  Well their slogan has always been #4theplayers not #4themoviefans so I'd disagree there too.  They're dominating this gen because they focused it on the players from day 1. MS didn't.  And look how that turned out.  

Sony could probably afford to lose money on PS4 hardware, I just don't think that's something they wanna do. They apparently didn't even want to pay for UHD support.

Again, there would be more UHD disc support if more popular devices supported them. A lot of people I talk to only have Bluray players becuase of a game console.

I'm not saying UHD support is game changer or anything, but PS4 not supporting seems like an odd move for a device pushing 4K. Few games will actually be 4K, many users may not have the speed or bandwidth caps for watching 4K video steaming, so UHD discs would be ideal for those who want the 4K experience.

They could take a loss but overall the company isn't in rude financial health and every little margin helps.  

They played this one by the book.  Support 4k gaming and streaming.  Basically support the future.  

The console still has blu rays which look exceptional especially in upscaled 4k. The blu ray market is still fighting off the dvd.  The last thing they want to do is start pushing 4k blu rays which are way too expensive,  way too few in number and way too few consumers buying them.  

The 4k blu ray market will never be huge.  Sony played a blinder on this one. 

Well in your OP you're suggesting they should add UHD support to take away an advantage from Scorpio, now you're arguing about money potentially saved. All we know for certain is PS4 having UHD support would have increased demand.

Sony had a huge focus on media as well around launch time, PS Vue isn't for the gamers either. Selective memory much?

I feel like you're gonna defend them regardless of the position they took on UHD disc support.

More features isn't a bad thing, I'll end on that.

You're right about the defending part. He's already saying in other threads that people shouldn't care about UHD discs anyway because they aren't "real 4K" but upscaled, as if that is a bad thing. But then he says BluRay's look "exceptional" upscaled to 4K and is excited about upscaled 4K gaming. These things with lower quality assets upscaled to 4K are going to be super, and look "exceptional", but a UHD movie on a disc is a waste because it's not "real 4K".

400 million dollars saved by not including the drive... the hoops people will jump through, lol.

This moderation was provided by Axumblade. 

I can just imagine the mental process involved... "hmm, should I claim 300m? 400m? 500m? okay, I'll go with 400m, 4 is my lucky number."

I just remembered Sony and Netflix signed some 4K deal in 2013 or 2014. My guess is rather than allow you to stream or buy physical they want to drive you to Netflix or their own 4K video service. I hope that's not true, that's a pretty shitty situation for them to put consumers in. Should be all about choice.