mjk45 said:
With Lockhart it's one more SKU than Sony so by following last gens upgrade path, a PS5 Pro matched by a XSXsupersexy still means just the one extra SKU , that way Xbox maintains it SKU sandwich and the focus shown by MS on being the power leader means not matching the PS5 Pro would be seen as a backdown. |
The XSX is their premium model which is being followed by their base model in Lockhart. This situation is reversed for the PS5. If the PS5 Pro aims to double its TF count, similar to the PS4 Pro, MS at the bare minimum would need to surpass that, probably double the XSX, if they wanted another premium option. That would make the gap between Lockhart and the XSX Super astronomical. Is scalability really feasible with a low end of 4/6TF to a high end of 24TF? Its much easier with 4/6TF & 12 TF. MS can't just drop Lockhart despite all the bottlenecks it would present to the highest end model. That doesn't even consider what MS might cut back in order to hit a favorable, mass market price.
Ultimately, MS priorities and goals revolve around subscription models, & they would prioritize that over being the power leader 4 - 5 years down the line. Lockhart at $299, maybe even $199, seems like a more favorable strategy for them, instead of releasing another high end Xbox model. This option goes down the drain if Xbox Series X is their base of course, but according to MS insiders, Lockhart is still in the works.