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SvennoJ on 13 June 2016
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mutantsushi said:

Funny I happened to call that they would sell both models side by side rather than direct replacement...

If they are planning on doing so for an extended period of time, I do wonder what cost cutting they will do on "non-NEO" model.
Upfront cost of "14nm" FinFET re-design were touted as precluding "shrink", but could a "standard" shrink to non-FinFET/planar 20nm work?
(IMHO, Sony could well have gone with FinFET redesign of PS4 "Slim" had they been content with traditional gen cycle and not intent on NEO launch.)
(Even if that's not justifiable/possible with simultaneous NEO launch diverting sales along with limited design/production capacity from AMD/Fabs.)

SvennoJ said:
Perhaps it's still an answer to the failed slim model. Can't increase profits with a cheap to produce slim, introduce an equally expensive to make improved version to sell at a premium. Make the original one look like a good deal, and reap the profits on the premium model.

WTF?  "Cheap to produce" is exactly more amenable to increased profits...  Capitalism 101.
NVM in what planet is Sony's profits dependant on console HW profits, rather than online and software sales/licencing?
This comment is so vastly removed from reality I don't know what else to say.  Dem sour grapes be getting fermented, I'd say.

SvennoJ said:Traditionally now is the time to introduce the slim, drop the price, get the games rolling and make a nice profit on the majority share of the console sales in a generation. Use that to pay off all the R&D and marketing of the launch and start with R&D for the next generation. By shooting themselves in the foot I mean they're effectively resetting the clock. More game delays because of new specs to incorporate, reset on profit margins and reset on the influx of consumers that jump in at the lower price point.

"Traditionally" a console is subsidized at launch.  Not PS4, so why should it follow this tradition it has already broken with?
Sony doesn't have large R&D budget they need to pay off solely from PS4.0.  Software APIs, OS, are carrying over to NEO.
Shortly after PS4 launch, Sony's games division was practically carrying the whole company, there was no gen-launch mortgage to pay off.
They just don't need to "reset the clock" in any way, game library is compatable, and online is compatable.
What company would want to be slave to such a "clock"/generational straight jacket, where minor hiccups can ruin them, even if this gen went great?
I mean, just realize the benefits they will reap solely on Japanese market, that is slow to take up traditional (incompatable) gens.
Unlike PS3->PS4, all Japanese devs can be expected to immediately get on board with PS4 NEO, maximizing SW ecosystem synergy.

What I meant is, they failed to build a cheaper to produce 20nm planar slim model
http://www.extremetech.com/computing/199101-amd-nvidia-both-skipping-20nm-gpus-as-tsmc-plans-massive-16b-fab-investment-report-says
http://www.extremetech.com/computing/123529-nvidia-deeply-unhappy-with-tsmc-claims-22nm-essentially-worthless
Hence the switch to 14nm finfet, which requires a redesign of the hardware.

Sony doesn't rely on hardware profits, yet they're also not in the business of susidizing their hardware after launch, not even at launch this time. Last gen cost them way too much. Meanwhile the price reductions of the current ps4 design is probably already as low as it can go. The XBox One S also starts at 399 again, not exactly how a slim used to enter the market. Hence we get a premium model that can be sold at a higher price to not bleed money on hardware sales.

Btw ofcourse Sony had R&D and marketing costs to recoup from the ps4 launch. The hardware might have broken even at point of sale, yet everything that came before that needed to be paid off.

Anyway we'll see where this goes, what effect it will have on games.