I doubt it is as much as $50 for it... and everything i say would be based on the possibility it isnt. Even though it very well could be, especially since I believe it probably cost Sony and MS under $220 to make their consoles (outside the BR drives)

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.

I believe the sales of the PS4 are now going to offset the sales of the PS4pro and throwing in a more expensive drive in there would have just made all that more difficult to work out.

I also believe that after careful examination, they decided on what kinda things to add or not add to their platform. And 4k BR drives didn't make the cut.

But here is the million dollar question....

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?

Thansk for weighing in RJ_Sizzle, but while anybody can throw around numbers, I'm hoping to have actual substantiation of figures,
because otherwise somebody says $50, somebody says $100, somebody says $5, that isn't a basis for coherent analysis.
Looking at single-unit prices for internal drives will put a cieling on this, which looks around $15 difference from my scoping of PC part sellers,
but actual production costs is what matters, considering the economies of scale here and that Sony produce drives themself.
(consumer price difference can easily be higher even when actual product cost is the same, just look at Apple)

The actual drive part #s are known so can be compared specifically (MS is using LG, AFAIK),
but comparison of bulk OEM costs for 4k capable (BDXL) vs cheaper Blu Ray drive would establish a starting point for comparison.  
Many Blu Ray drives were not even sold as 4k capable, but were later able to be firmware patched, so it's not some exclusive thing.
(of course many manufacturors won't bother to release a firmware patch for their products, because they don't make $ from it)

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.

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.

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.

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.

I would think it would have the same reaction as the Kinect being included with all models of the X1 at launch, would have only damaged the consoles sales to the actual people who would consider buying it anyway, as for those who are outraged at the non inclusion of the drive right now, they would have been equally vocal about the lack of it, or if it came with bells and whistles or if it didn't if you follow.

As for the actual people who were keen to get the Neo, I think the lack of the disk drive which a low enough % of users used for Sony to decide not to include... is a fine compromise for that amount of Teraflops at $399 in a 2016 console, amazing power for cost.

I habe to agree... I didn't even notice they didkt say anything about a4k BR drive until after the show here on the forums. I really couldn't care less about it. Then again, I probably would have bought the PS4p even if it came without a disc drive period. 

I'm not suggesting that it costs $100. i think the first thing i said in my post was i dount it cost more than $50. But also went onto say that it could veey well cost more than that beig that i also think the consoles domt cost more than $220 to make. 

And I arrived at that from the cost of the Fat XB1. At one point they were being sold for as little as $270. The XB1s should cost less to make. Barring whatever the cost of the drive is. And i don't think MS is in a position now to be chasing profits on hardware. So they are probably selling it with very very very low margins. If not at a loss.... tho I doubt that. 

I am no expert, certainly not on industrial scale bulk order side of things,
but even looking at New Egg single-unit retail, the difference in BDXL (4k capable) vs. lower spec BD is $20.
That is the cieling, for single-unit retail, and should reflect relative price premium, above actual production costs.
So realistically, actual production cost difference in bulk should be like $5, or certainly less than $10.

Ive heard people quote some tear down that estimated the costs of the Xbox One Slim, and the drive there was like 15.5$ more expensive than the normal drive.

I think thats where this idea of it just being a extra 15$ in terms of bills of materials comes from.

Aye maybe, there is a lot of people who still enjoy taking some of the edge off massive game installs by buying the disk version of things like Fallout and The Witcher 3, but at the same time, the majority of my PS4 games are all digital so I rarely find myself putting a disk in the drive and I still haven't found myself watching the one Blu ray that I got free when I bought my PS3 lol.

This is what you wrote, and I was responding to:

Pretty clearly you're positing a $100 difference in cost as result of including higher spec Blu Ray drive.
If you want to establish a basis for that number, great, although consumer retail costs from New Egg are only $20.
Regardless, I could throw out a number that it costs $1000 diffence.  Not particularly helpful, hm?

Discussion about personal relevance of UHD Blu Ray disks or broader consumer interest in that is nice and all,
but establishing the actual cost difference is the start of the conversation of pros/cons of inclusion or not of that feature.
If the con is $1 or no difference in price, that is very different scenario vs. if the difference is $100, no matter how niche the demand for feature is.

The thing is though if that is how much it cost them could Sony be in a spot of saying well... that could push the console into not being profitable at 399... okay so do we charge 449 for it... or $416 to cover the cost? Or.... fuck it, drop the drive and just focus on sheer power and not include it. I'm happy enough with the choice at the end of the day, heck they could do what MS did with the 360!