| Kjartan said: When comparing the 2013 PS3+X360 black friday VS 2020 PS4+XB1 we can clearly see that it was a mistake for both Sony and Microsft to not have better deals and to not lower the prices of their old consoles. |
Comparing sales/pricing is not sufficient to justify whether a strategy is a "mistake" or not, since that depends on goals of strategy.
Fair to say you assume "selling the most consoles now" (irrespective of generation) is Sony's goal, but IMHO that's isn't 100% true.
And just because they follow one strategy at one time doesn't not mean that is the one and only strategy for all time & situations.
First of all, console sale themselves are not profitable for Sony, it is all about subsequent software sales & services.
What does selling additional PS4 do now for Sony? They are planning for their 1st party offerings to transition to PS5 within 2-3 years
(and some are already doing so) so a PS4 sold today will not be able to profit from their ongoing game investments in PS5 games.
Lowering the price of PS4 with a Slim2 that could sell more at lower price would also imply contracting larger production capacity.
But why do that for limited viability product when the same production capacity could build MORE PS5 which are supply limited?
It's just not that enticing to launch new SKU with new unique parts chain, when that market is basically certain to decline further.
Also related is question why retail outlets should dedicate shelf space to this when that could be more profitable with PS5 units.
This isn't to say there is no plausible reasons Sony might see to refresh PS4 with a price drop, just they aren't automatic.
Refreshing BOTH base PS4 and Pro seem excessive for marginal market like this, probably only one of them would be retained.
I could even see a niche for "all digital" Pro Slim essentially directly aimed against Series S, but "potentially" =/= "mandatory".
So it's a huge stretch to claim it was a "mistake" for both Sony and MS to not further discount lastgen platforms (likely with Slim2).
MS itself is targetting much of the same market with Series S, especially considering how they will likely further discount Series S
(with future "S Slim" etc) and Sony themselves also are creating opportunity with all digital model that also can target lower price.
