Sony Plans Limited PlayStation 5 Output in First Year (Bloomberg)

[wartime]

Interesting that this seems (according to the article) to be driven more by perceived weaker demand than their inability to manufacture. A higher price than the PS4 and a weaker global economy would obviously impact demand. If the decreased production is just because they think demand will be lower, it won't be that much harder to get one compared to the PS4's launch/first year.

The Tokyo-based tech giant is limiting its initial production run in part because it expects the PS5's ambitious specs to weigh on demand by leading to a high price at launch, the people said, asking not to be identified because the subject is private. The global Covid-19 pandemic has affected Sony's promotional plans for the new device but not its production capacity, they added.

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[Fizie]

Recently, it was forced to reveal its DualSense PS5 controller in a hurried fashion, according to people informed on the matter.

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Expected as much.

Interesting that they'll more than likely both be the same price, considering the XSX is the more powerful machine.

 

[RingRang]

Are they quoting someone or referencing a source there? Nope. Then it's just the article writer giving their opinion or extrapolating from something they heard. Of course Sony and MS are going to be looking at one another and won't want to let the other launch while delaying their own product, that's obvious enough to everyone with functional brain cells. My beef was with your assertion that they're only launching this year to keep up with MS. It's nothing but console war nonsense IMO.

They've maintained holiday 2020 for many months now without wavering even a tiny bit in that message.

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As others have pointed out, this reporter is legit, and he's reporting Sony will launch this year.....as long as Microsoft does. He then goes on to detail all the reasons a 2020 launch is going to be hard.

You're welcome to interpret this info however you like, but you can stop with the grandstanding that my interpretation is console wars.

 

[iswasdoes]

It's just a no fees loan though. You're paying the full price over time.

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Of course but to me thats still a no brainer if it was an either/or choice, and I think all this 'oooh, if ones 499 and the other is 450 everything will be different' is kinda irrelevant with such a great value proposition.

If you were committing to a significantly higher cost over 24 months say $1000 i would agree, but is anyone gonna care about 50-100 dollars spread over 2 years with no interest, if it means they can get the most powerful box day 1?

 

[ShaiKhulud]

Plans can change. It's likely the hardware existed but was being held another year. Does not mean they were wrong.

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I'm not saying that his lying, only that his sources are usually not well-informed. Even this article is full of rough generalizations. Like wow, console at launch will be kinda pricey and scarce. Who could have thought. Oh wow, Covid-19 will affect the PR mass gatherings. You're really need to have sources in Sony to know that.

 

[Kouriozan]

If they still plan to release this year, it's not going to be pretty indeed.
I'm more worried about the crunch devs will have to go through, since development have to slow down due to COVID-19.

 

[vivftp]

As others have pointed out, this reporter is legit, and he's reporting Sony will launch this year.....as long as Microsoft does. He then goes on to detail all the reasons a 2020 launch is going to be hard.

You're welcome to interpret this info however you like, but you can stop with the grandstanding that my interpretation is console wars.

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Sure thing ;)

 

[G_Zero]

Of course but to me thats still a no brainer if it was an either/or choice, and I think all this 'oooh, if ones 499 and the other is 450 everything will be different' is kinda irrelevant with such a great value proposition.

If you were committing to a significantly higher cost over 24 months say $1000 i would agree, but is anyone gonna care about 50-100 dollars spread over 2 years with no interest, if it means they can get the most powerful box day 1?

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I really doubt it's going to have much of an impact, if any. I mean, what has it meant this generation? Loads of retailers in my country offer similar deals on all items, so long as your purchase is big enough.

 

[iswasdoes]

I really doubt it's going to have much of an impact, if any. I mean, what has it meant this generation? Loads of retailers in my country offer similar deals on all items, so long as your purchase is big enough.

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Mine too, and interest free credit is available through some banks. But that's not the same as a dedicated service from the manufacturer itself, which is also bundled with a great software subscription service

But i agree it wont have an impact, what im trying to say is I think its silly that it doesnt and the price debate rages on, when if youre talking pure value then theres this huge elephant in the room noones talking about

 

[Spark]

Doesn't bode well for people not wanting cross gen games. I don't see any third party ditching current gen systems for at least two years, if that. Contrasted to this generation where publishers couldn't cut last gen versions fast enough.

 

[G_Zero]

Mine too, and interest free credit is available through some banks. But that's not the same as a dedicated service from the manufacturer itself, which is also bundled with a great software subscription service

But i agree it wont have an impact, what im trying to say is I think its silly that it doesnt and the price debate rages on, when if youre talking pure value then theres this huge elephant in the room noones talking about

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I see what you're saying, I just think most consumers are used to these kinds of things. What everyone is ultimately looking at is the price they will pay overall.

 

[blaze]

Software is going to be the biggest problem for Sony/MS when it comes to sales, the first year can be pretty barren normally without a pandemic going on, a high priced console with few games lined up for release is going to be a tough sell if things carry on as they are now. There's going to be quite a lot of publishers reluctant to press ahead with major releases if they don't think they can get the marketing right for the investment they're putting in.

 

[Imitation Of Life]

Of course but to me thats still a no brainer if it was an either/or choice, and I think all this 'oooh, if ones 499 and the other is 450 everything will be different' is kinda irrelevant with such a great value proposition.

If you were committing to a significantly higher cost over 24 months say $1000 i would agree, but is anyone gonna care about 50-100 dollars spread over 2 years with no interest, if it means they can get the most powerful box day 1?

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If only power was all that mattered...

 

[iswasdoes]

I see what you're saying, I just think most consumers are used to these kinds of things. What everyone is ultimately looking at is the price they will pay overall.

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I genuinely wonder if thats true. What we havnt seen is a big marketing campaign based around that model. The closest is Apple Upgrade, which seems to be getting lots of traction https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-iphone-upgrade-program-2017-8?r=US&IR=T

I think youre right because all console ads lead with Buy now for £399. If xbox properly shifted the model and led with "Subscribe now fro 24.99 a month and play halo today" - i think youd see a difference

 

[modiz]

Doesn't bode well for people not wanting cross gen games. I don't see any third party ditching current gen systems for at least two years, if that. Contrasted to this generation where publishers couldn't cut last gen versions fast enough.

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what do you mean? the first major third party current gen only game was Assassins Creed Unity in late 2014 (and even then they had rogue for last gen owners), the transition was very slow and was a major complaint back at the first year of the generation, some third party games like rise of the tomb raider even launched at holiday 2015 as cross gen titles.

 

[gofreak]

Even though Sony are limiting the output we're still talking 6 million consoles here (down from 7.5 million from the PS4). We're not talking a minuscule fraction of the past.

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Oops... I missed that the 5-6m target was up to March 2021, thought at first it was for the first full year.

Indeed, that wouldn't be quite so bad, at least vs what was in my mind before! Maybe 9m to 11m for the first full year.

More like shipping the controller to developers for final tweaking & fear of it getting leaked.

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Undoubtedly the potential for leaks is higher at the moment also because of the 'work from home' context. Some of these controllers will probably wind up at certain key employees' homes.

Better to put it out there on your own terms - especially with such big design changes - than have a family member posting a video to tiktok or something.

 

[G_Zero]

I genuinely wonder if thats true. What we havnt seen is a big marketing campaign based around that model. The closest is Apple Upgrade, which seems to be getting lots of traction https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-iphone-upgrade-program-2017-8?r=US&IR=T

I think youre right because all console ads lead with Buy now for £399. If xbox properly shifted the model and led with "Subscribe now fro 24.99 a month and play halo today" - i think youd see a difference

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Maybe, but there's also a huge difference between subscribing to new iPhones, which generally come out once a year, and new consoles, which come out roughly every seven years. There's way more frequent reward for subscribing, and you can just stay subscribed and keep getting new phones. With Microsoft's model, you only "subscribe" for two years, to pay off one console, the way I understand it. It requires you to actively resubscribe when the next generation hits.

 

[Deleted member 23046]

Of course but to me thats still a no brainer if it was an either/or choice, and I think all this 'oooh, if ones 499 and the other is 450 everything will be different' is kinda irrelevant with such a great value proposition.

If you were committing to a significantly higher cost over 24 months say $1000 i would agree, but is anyone gonna care about 50-100 dollars spread over 2 years with no interest, if it means they can get the most powerful box day 1?

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Almost every retailers are offering equivalent payement solution, for any product.
And not a single PS5 early adopters will care about the Xbox pricing.

 

[MilkBeard]

This is a tricky situation because even if they delay it, it may not improve sales if the economies of the world tank for some time

 

[Spark]

what do you mean? the first major third party current gen only game was Assassins Creed Unity in late 2014 (and even then they had rogue for last gen owners), the transition was very slow and was a major complaint back at the first year of the generation, some third party games like rise of the tomb raider even launched at holiday 2015 as cross gen titles.

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Actually your right, there are way more cross gen games than I remembered. I guess with Microsoft dedicating their first party devs to cross gen development doesn't help too much come next gen. Either way I expect it to be worse this time around.

 

[Joe White]

scalpers rubbing their hands

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No worries, it's just a small added premium to the price, kinda like 20% service tip for managing to preorder console in time.

 

[Pryme]

and both went away from that this generation.

So you think there will be a Lockhart at launch? Because I don't think there is any chance.

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If there's no Lockhart at launch, there will never be a Lockhart.

 

[blastprocessor]

I'm gonna hit that pre-order button faster than the next person.

 

[Wollan]

Just for completeness sake, GI.biz article:


"Sources told Bloomberg the platform holder and its assembly partners will manufacture just five to six million units of the PS5 by March 2021, the end of the fiscal year. ... By comparison, PS4 sold 7.5 million units in its first two quarters."

 

[crazillo]

I also expect less console units available to sell on the market at launch than both Sony and MS would desire. Pricing will be really interesting this time. I guess both companies will need their war chest given the situation, but then console hardware is mostly sold at a loss.

But wow, we really need to be quick with pre-orders this time. I hope both companies will come up with registration solutions preventing people from buying up 20 consoles and selling them on Ebay.

By the way, reading this I think it makes total sense for both Sony and MS to do a cross-gen strategy with their release window games. Games are so expensive to make these days and the whole Covid-19 situation might really limit the game's availability, success and revenue otherwise.

 

[gofreak]

I'm gonna hit that pre-order button faster than the next person.

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Who to even preorder from is a big question... at least for me...

I had a bad experience with 3DS preordering from Amazon.

I would go with Gamestop here (Ireland), but beginning to wonder if these stores will even be around by year's end.

Maybe will just have to take a punt on Amazon again :/

 

[blastprocessor]

Maybe will just have to take a punt on Amazon again :/

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I used Amazon for PS3 and PS4 flawless delivery.

 

[Brees2Thomas]

So they are making 1.5 million less units than the PS4 sold over the same time period? I don't see that as "far fewer units."

 

[nekkid]

If there's no Lockhart at launch, there will never be a Lockhart.

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Disagree entirely.

 

[Nugnip]

I used Amazon for PS3 and PS4 flawless delivery.

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I do NOT trust Amazon anymore but I believe it really depends on where you live. Where I am, the delivery really is problematic (to the point I once had to call the police when a delivery person became agressive)

 

[hidys]

I'm honestly still unsure why they haven't just delayed the console.

 

[T0kenAussie]

There's no way MS is manufacturing a larger APU cheaper.

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MS has azure scale to play with as they upgrade the xcloud blades

 

[Brees2Thomas]

I'm honestly still unsure why they haven't just delayed the console.

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Why? The economy is bad enough as it is. Why make it worse? They know people will scoop up the 6 million units.

 

[Ada]

Shouldn't have pushed the GPU that far thus requiring exotic cooling and more cost.

 

[T0kenAussie]

Doesn't bode well for people not wanting cross gen games. I don't see any third party ditching current gen systems for at least two years, if that. Contrasted to this generation where publishers couldn't cut last gen versions fast enough.

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Microsoft's cross gen plans to support gamepass seem smarter in retrospect

 

[Murdock]

Sony is so awesome and has so many awesome games that can wait until 2025 before buying the awesome ps5!

 

[DocH1X1]

If both consoles cost 499 that is HUGE for xbox!

 

[Brees2Thomas]

Who to even preorder from is a big question... at least for me...

I had a bad experience with 3DS preordering from Amazon.

I would go with Gamestop here (Ireland), but beginning to wonder if these stores will even be around by year's end.

Maybe will just have to take a punt on Amazon again :/

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Yeh me too. I'd like to get a trade-in deal with GameStop. Hopefully I can trust that the store I use will remain open.

 

[gofreak]

I'm honestly still unsure why they haven't just delayed the console.

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If we take what's in the article to reflect their modeling, then currently they're forecasting a 20% reduction in demand for PS5 in its first few months vs PS4.

Would that be a large enough impact to scotch the launch? There's also no guarantee conditions would be more favourable for a launch in 2021, or so much more favourable that things will work out better overall.

I think they'd only delay the launch if physical production capacity wasn't there. A modeled 20% softer demand vs their last launch - which was a very good launch - wouldn't seem pressing enough on its own IMO.

 

[Elios83]

Conclusion is just that covid is obviously going to have an impact on everything and everyone involved and predicting what's going to happen is tough even for the companies making these consoles.
Tbh I'm not worried about the hardware, they are determined to launch this year, we already know that price will be 499$ worst case (I'm hoping for 449$, I don't think that anything less is realistic given the high end specs and people should be totally prepared for 499$) and prodution will ultimately depend on demand and ability to secure parts. 6 million forecast if confirmed is also not really a ''limited'' stock situation especially at 499$ although shortages and scalpers profiting from them day one will be unavoidable.
We'll find out more when Sony announces their forecast for the next fiscal year, should be on april 30 but it's subject to delays.
What I'm more concerned about is software with delays on key titles that were supposed to be launch titles.
Here we don't know much from Sony at the moment but on the other side Phil Spencer has already warned about this situation basically telling that it doesn't matter if launch lineup will be poor and important titles will be delayed as long as there is a continous flow of releases. His comment about "I wouldn't delay the launch for a single game" should tell us that they're basically even prepared for a scenario where Halo is delayed.
The problem is that it would be disappointing to buy new consoles just to use them mostly in BC mode...

 

[WhateverItTakes]

I'm honestly still unsure why they haven't just delayed the console.

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The problem is it's a huge ecosystem. Hardware R&D for the console itself, Developer costs on the software R&D and making launch games, I assume big bucks on marketing space already spent, some of that can be hard to shift even by a few months.

Throw that into a competitive market, where as we saw from the current gen if you launch behind you stay behind, I can see why they want to stick to the plan so to speak.

But then maybe that's also an argument for taking more time. Whatever the situation, I suppose they've got have that meeting at the top top level and see what will make Sony the most money, or stave of any existential threat.

 

[Aveis]

So their engineers couldn't make final adjustments? That sounds a bit worrisome

 

[Oregano]

If we take what's in the article to reflect their modeling, then currently they're forecasting a 20% reduction in demand for PS5 in its first few months vs PS4.

Would that be a large enough impact to scotch the launch? There's also no guarantee conditions would be more favourable for a launch in 2021, or so much more favourable that things will work out better overall.

I think they'd only delay the launch if physical production capacity wasn't there. A modeled 20% softer demand vs their last launch - which was a very good launch - wouldn't seem pressing enough on its own IMO.

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Perhaps I'm misremembering but wasn't PS4 widely sold out like Switch for a while?

That's why a smaller forecast based on demand, and not supply, is surprising IMO.

 

[sncvsrtoip]

I wonder if xsx could be little cheaper than ps5.

 

[ReplacementPelican]

If both consoles cost 499 that is HUGE for xbox!

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I don't really think it would be. The Xbox is at a disadvantage in terms of customer growth Vs customer retention so both consoles being the same price doesn't give it some huge boost.

Especially as we still have to see first party games and marketing materials yet.

 

[Fizie]

Microsoft's cross gen plans to support gamepass seem smarter in retrospect

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Yup, and remember all the hate MS / Matt Booty got for it.

Now looks like they will all be at it, and rightly so.

 

[gofreak]

Perhaps I'm misremembering but wasn't PS4 widely sold out like Switch for a while?

That's why a smaller forecast based on demand, and not supply, is surprising IMO.

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True, actually, depending on what actual demand for PS4 was, vs satisfied demand (at 7.5m units), the modelling might indicate a softer reduction than 20%.

But if they think they can realise sales of 5 or 6m in the same period, that - IMO - seems more than good enough to go ahead with that first step.

I think the bigger question mark would be demand then in the rest of the year, and the second holiday season. If it followed a 'normal' curve after the starting 4 months, it could be a decent year. If demand was very poor, then that's probably not an environment you want to delay your launch into anyway.

Yup, and remember all the hate MS / Matt Booty got for it.

Now looks like they will all be at it, and rightly so.

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I don't think Sony's software plans will change one iota - i.e. I don't think they'll turn previously PS5 exclusive games into PS4/PS5 releases. They might spool up some additional support for PS4 from contracted parties though. They can keep selling PS4s as a value option with the usual longer tail support (family fare, third party) while switching existing first party focus to PS5.

A softer than expected transition could slow third party traction on third party next-gen exclusives though, depending on just how soft it is.

 

[Dan Thunder]

Don't see the issue myself. According to the article they're on about providing up to 6m units vs 7.5m for the PS4. The PS5 will likely cost £50-100 more than the PS4 did at launch so would probably sell less regardless of units on shelves.

Given the current climate I think that even that amount would be impressive.

 

[Deleted member 65994]

If the XSX ssd costs 150 dollar, and the ram 100 dollar. How does that work for lockhart if they put a 1tb ssd in that thing? half of the price of the device exist out of the SSD?

 

[MinusTydus]

Series x is gonna be $599.

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I bid $1, Drew!