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mutantsushi on 09 September 2016
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Bandorr said:
A good question indeed. I can't see it being as simple as "just add a $15 4k player".

To be clear, the question is not the cost of a 4k drive, but the DIFFERNCE in cost between 4k drive and lower-spec Blu Ray drive.

Bandorr said:
Did Microsoft buy in bulk? Did they design their console around it, or have plans for it from the beginning?
Would it taken reworking the PSpro (and thus spending a lot of money on changing it) to try and fit in the drive?

Of course MS and Sony bought in bulk, that is the only economic way to produce a console or factory assembled PC for that matter.
BDXL drives fit into exactly the same formats as conventional drives, it is not a question of anything exotic to be accomodated for.
Certainly both would have needed to arrange bulk contracts ahead of time, and different perspectives on future pricing prospects
could well have played a part, potentially similar to the GDDR vs ESRAM issue of original PS4/XBone, although to be clear the memory
choice was a fundamental architecture choice which can't be trivially changed, while a drive spec can certainly be upgraded at last minute.

Bandorr said:
Even if they thought it was a dying trend, they would have added it if it was just a simple "add a $15 dollar player".

Checking consumer prices for single unit orders of internal drives on New Egg, the difference for BDXL reader (not burner) seems to be $20 retail.
Pretty clear that actual cost is less than $15, probably around $5 difference.  And they didn't just simply add it in.

Intrinsic said:
I think Sony is just milking it. But not for why you seem to think they are. I think the PS4 doesn't cost them anymore than $230 to make. But I also feel the PS4pro possibly costs them a little above $399 to make. Maybe around $420.

If the PS4pro was $499 and we all find out that it could have cost $399 if they used a normal BR drive.... what do you think everyone would be saying right now?

I don't think I ever put forth a theory as to WHY Sony chose their current configuration, either here or in other threads.
I haven't claimed that Sony IS in fact milking it.  That really depends on the costs involved, doesn't it?  That's what I want to clarify.
You put forth a theory that seems to suggest 4K BD costs $100, and propose we hypothesize about the results of that...
As I made clear in the first post, I'd really rather get the actual cost numbers clear first, before discussing fantasy cost scenarios that aren't real.