I don't think Sony will have that problem, at 9Tf, 10Tf, 11Tf, etc. If the price is right and the games impress. Sony's biggest year-one/year-two marketing challenge ever was when they overshot on tech and price, it's hard to think of anything more challenging than that. A slightly weaker PS5, with the right marketing mix (i.e. price, games etc), will be fine.
MS is doing them a favour with Lockhart in this scenario by the way. By definition they're lowering the level of 'acceptability' well below where PS5 will stand. MS , for the sake of their own offerings, can't really argue that XSX is the only desirable next-gen option. If PS5 comes in between the two Xboxs in price, and closer to XSX in perceived 'impressiveness', Sony will be very happy with that positioning. That's an if, but my point is, the calculus in terms of perception - wider perception - is more than the tech in the box.