Might Sony go with a two-SKU strategy next-gen (like Microsoft did with Series S)?

[Kyuu]

Pemalite said:

Kyuu said:

1. Sony can choose to reduce the SSD capacity, saving a few $. Series S can't match because the capacity is too small as is, and GamePass (the main selling point) skews to higher capacity demand. Do keep in mind that game sizes are also generally smaller on PS5.

No. Sony chose to reduce the SSD capacity, because they made their SSD faster, by building a wider NAND interface... So it was a cost cutting measure.

Sony is likely spending roughly the same amount as Microsoft for their SSD, but chose to sacrifice capacity for speed.

Game sizes are smaller due to a myriad of factors... Less games are built to install on Playstation 4 and Playstation 5 simultaneously, they release a variant specific for each platform... Or run the PS4 version in backwards compatibility mode on the PS5.

Compression.

Localization.

And such.

Kyuu said:

2. PS5 selling a lot more than Xbox can enable Sony to pay chip makers less for more. Xbox reportedly never made money from hardware.

No one can pay TSMC more money, for more chips.

They are at capacity.

The only way to get more chips is by making smaller chips so you can get more chips per wafer.

Kyuu said:

4. Sony are transitioning to smaller die sizes quicker than Microsoft. They've already switched to 6nm months ago, and are reported to go 5nm and launch a cheaper and smaller model in September. This saves costs and improves production. Microsoft is yet to transition to 6nm. I'm aware that there are more complications, but it is something to consider.

Keep in mind that "7nm and 6nm" are actually just advertising numbers, they don't actually represent the geometric feature sizes of transistors on a silicon wafer anymore.

TSMC's advertised "6nm" is actually 7nm+ or 7nm EUV. It uses identical design rules, just denser rooting libs... And not all logic scales the same, if you are SRAM heavy with your chip, it -will- be cheaper to stick to 7nm.

There are advantages to TSMC's "6nm" but it's not a night and day difference, Microsoft may have a contract in place and the cost to move to 6nm may override any tiny cost saving.

That... And TSMC is at capacity, they simply may not have any capacity available.

The real jump will be at 5nm.

Sony and Microsoft are also not the ones shrinking these chips... That is actually AMD and TSMC as the technology is propriety, Microsoft and Sony just hand over a contract/cheque to get the job done.

1. You read my post wrong. The lowest future price points we were discussing concerned Series S vs PS5DE, not Series X vs PS5.

Series S has a storage capacity of 512 GB, that's less than what's inside the PS5DE (825 GB). By simply targeting Series S's storage (in size), Sony would reduce the cost gap which was already small at launch relative to the specs difference ($300 vs $400). Series S is more storage hungry/dependent, its game generally have the bigger file sizes (regardless of the reasons), and the proprietary expansion card is slower, much more expensive, and limited in options (2 options vs countless). There would be no harm in Sony releasing a cheaper PS5DE version with storage lower than 512 GB, because the flexible expansions are becoming dirt cheap, and it doesn't have GamePass games to worry about. If Xbox can go as low as 512 GB, so should PS5 with its decidedly superior storage system.

2. True 6nm or not, PS5's die size shrank, and as a result Sony (or the chip makers) can now produce noticeably more units than they used to. Series S has the theoretical production capacity to crush PS5's, but you can't sell what people don't want, so it's an insignificant long term advantage. The console is primarily demand capped as opposed to production capped. Whatever the reason, Sony's production targets are now reportedly sky high, while MS is still trying to convince people that Series S is the best deal in gaming instead of doing something about the X. Series X being "wafer hungry" so to speak due to its slower clockrate/wider design, and perhaps taking long to transition to "6nm", is translating to piss poor sales, especially if VGC's estimates are to be believed. PS5 is getting a revision soon (possibly 5nm), yet no word is out about Microsoft matching. They're clearly slower, and 2023 will confirm it. MS was reported to transition to the "pseudo" 6nm as well, but it's taking them longer supposedly because they're a lower priority to TSMC:

https://www.angstronomics.com/p/ps5-refresh-oberon-plus

For a while, it was reported that Microsoft paid for chip priority. During that period, Xbox Series managed to score a few wins and generally fought back. Why do you think that happened/stopped? If it's just a matter of TSMC favoring the highest bidder, then why didn't MS continue to pay them extra? Do platform popularity and demand perceptions influence TSMC and AMD's decisions to prioritize between Sony and Microsoft? Why isn't Microsoft getting as much wafer as Sony? I think it's obvious that Playstation's popularity gives Sony an edge in being prioritized by chip makers by default, which automatically puts them in a comfortable position and enables them to strike better deals.