The Scorpio is set to release this year, probably before Christmas but certainly before 2018. Sony will then have the weakest console on the market and are likely to begin a price war around the launch of the Scorpio, after a short 'wait and see' window in order to assess the need for such a thing. There may not be a need ... who knows at this point. 

I think they WILL need a price drop in order to at least prevent the Scorpio totally eclipsing PS4 sales around the last quarter. I'm not sure whether the initial surge of sales will continue on through early 2018, but I don't think we can disregard that idea, especially in the US. Europe and certainly Japan are a different story. It seems to me a slimmer version of the PS4 Pro with a cheaper price would be the way to go, so does anyone think we'll see a PS4 Pro come the last quarter of 2017?

Where would this eclipsing happen? Cause it can only happen in the US.

I think you are mistaken. Sony doesn't need to start anything. They have a very confortable lead in hardware and in exclusives. There is no reason for them to panic over the scorpio.

For example, they just need to release God of war 4 in the same day the scorpio comes out, or they can buy a temporary CoD exclusivity for that year.
Sony has all the cards on their hands.

Nah. Most likely a price cut. Eventually the Pro will replace the standard PS4 as the main SKU.

Sony doesn't need to, maybe regretting the Pro, hasn't sold amazingly. Scorpio will do better if MS or Retailers offer a good trade in program.

Scorpio > PS4pro > PS4/PS4slim > XB1 slim> XB1 > Switch.

Sony wont have the weakest console on the market.

That title belongs to the switch, or if you dont consider it a home console, to the XB1/XB1 slim.

1) at 349$ I think the PS4pro will outsell the scorpio (if its 399$ or 449$).

2) Slimmer version of Pro isnt needed, but a newer model that allows them to sell it cheaper to consumers, would be nice. Just like how the normal PS4 saw revisions, maybe there will be newer models of the PS4pro, that are better designed and can be sold cheaper.  It wont have a new name, it ll be the same PS4pro, just cheaper.

I think price cuts are the way to go.

The gap between Ms and Sony was close in the USA at xmas, and I expect it to be the case this year, I think they look at dropping the price of the pro by at least $50 to make it even better value for money.

The only negative for me is closing studios like Cambridge etc, they could have got them working on Pro upgrades to their back catalogue of PS4 games to make it look even more appealing before scorpio came out.

1. Sony will not have the weakest console on the market. It will have the weaker of the 2 4k SKUs (PS4pro and scorpio) but the strongest of all the 1080p consoles (PS4, XB1s and NS)
   
   
2. I think a price drop on the PS4pro is pretty much a given. And probably was always what they were going to do. The PS4pro is almost certainly going to be dropped to $350 this year and probably bundled with a game and the PS4s will be at around $199 and also with a game. This isn't all a reaction to the scorpio but is something that sony would naturally have done anyways. 
   
   I also don't think that the scorpio will have anything near that kinda relevance to make the XB1 eclipse sony the PS4 sales. Just look at the PS4pro for reference. No matter how good its going to be, a $400+ console can only sell so much especially when their are cheaper boxes that can do the exact same thing its doing. People need to understand, that at the end of the day; all the PS4pro/Scorpio is pushing is better resolution and performance. The PS4pro has shown just how relevant that seems to be to the general consumer.
   
   
3. One day for sure, but as for 2017 and even 2018...... it will be IMPOSSIBLE to have a slimmer version of the PS4pro. Going slimmer is 100% (ok slight exageration, say 90%) tied to the fabrication process used to build the chips in the console (APU, RAM...etc) the PS4pro APU chipset is based on a 14nm process. Its the size it is because thats what it needs to be to fit the cooling and PCU for its kinda chip in the case. Only way it gets smaller is if the APU gets smaller. Which will mean smaller PCU, smaller fan, smaller MB...etc.

Scorpio won't sell that hot and apart from a few nerds nobody cares about those Teraflops. Nothing will change, Sony doesn't have to do anything.

I don't think so. Save that for next year.

I think they should just slash the price massively in early November, go with the Pro at $299 and the Slim at $199. And on Black Friday, throw in Red Dead 2 and Gran Turismo or something. They have made decent profit on the original and Slim from almost day 1, even if they have to lose a bit of money at each sale, it's only one country, and they will be back in profit with a PS Plus subscription or a couple of games.

I doubt it.

A $50 price cut is likely, but that's all Sony needs to do to stay ahead.