If I was head of PR of the weaker of the two I would absolutely make it my number one priority to announce first, and counter the better specs when the competitor announces with gameplay demos etc.
Waiting until the stronger console had announced everything and then dropping a deep dive of your specs would be the absolutely worst way to handle it. If PS5 is weaker then literally every comment, every article will be harping on about it.
Sony have bungled the PS5 announcement if it doesn't at least equal XSX.
You are too focused on the us vs. them mentality and back and forth between console makers. Sony has had a plan for a long while now, and while that plan has been tweaked and fine-tuned (as all good plans are), the reason why they are pulling the trigger now is because they had mapped this out and feel it is the best time to do so.
I'll put it in other terms: When you sell a console to 120 million people and your competitor sells 50 million, do you structure your whole marketing plan for next gen around those 50 million people using your competitors device or around the 120 million people base you've help nourish who are in your ecosystem?
If Sony is weaker, which I don't believe they will be by a significant margin, now still makes sense for them to announce. Again, they are reaching out to their 120 million install base, namely the people that will be day 1 buyers.
The second your marketing plan revolves around responding to the competition is the second you've lost the plot as a marketer, as you are no longer focused on the grand strategy but instead engaging in an endless war of slapping each other for no reason.
