Sony is overly cautious with the PlayStation 5 console generation, which is the massive success of the PS4 that has put a lot of pressure on it to take into account.
By now, the gaming community has been impatient when Sony bought the PlayStation 5 too carefully. The amount of information the company provides to the press and the media is minimal. Most of what fans talk about are just rumors. The most important thing that gamers care about is the price and technology applied to this new gaming machine generation. But we can say that Sony is too cautious, especially when the PlayStation 4 has created too great success. And I think this is a smart move for the company.
Sony doesn’t need to announce prices at the moment. Most consoles do not tell the starting price early, but instead, the company will spend a lot of time introducing hardware prowess and new technologies. Notice of price will come much later. It seems that the price is a precarious problem, causing headaches for all firms. With PlayStation 5, Sony does not want to be the first to “show up.”
If you look back on the past, you can see that the competitors’ price announcement is traditionally Sony. Partly this way has brought success to the company so far. Sony had been waiting for Sega to launch the Saturn, and then preemptively with a much better and cheaper gaming device. After that, Sony continued to wait for Sega to announce the Dreamcast and then again strike a critical hit for Sega and the entire console generation: PlayStation 2. Sony was also waiting for Nintendo to announce the price of 3DS. has just announced the superior advantages of Vita in the same price range. Most recently, in the same way, Sony and PlayStation 4 have turned Microsoft into a fool with the Xbox One generation.
It can be said that this strategy always works for Sony, except for Vita. Nintendo has tried and defeated PS Vita in the market for handheld game consoles later, ultimately ending Sony’s ambition. Take a look at Sony’s track record when using the “wait patiently” tactic: PlayStation surpasses other console generations; PlayStation 2 became the best selling game console of all time; The PlayStation 4 completely dominates the gaming console market, where Xbox One doesn’t have a door to compare, and Nintendo has to restart the entire brand with the Switch.
One of Sony’s most unforgettable lessons is the PlayStation 3. This is the machine Sony exposes too much information to the community, including the plans they want to do with hardware. The result is not suitable for Sony. The sharing of information too much makes fans doubt, and controversial opinions and misunderstandings revolve around the PS3. And the moment of announcing the price of $ 599 pushed the whole world to fall.
Of course, the PlayStation 3 is finally a great gaming console because Sony has promptly corrected the mistake. However, that made the company cost too much. It is estimated that the PS3 consumed almost all of Sony’s profits from PS1 and PS2, although even the PSP made money at the time. It’s the financial loophole that Sony never wants to repeat.
That brings us to the bottom line at the PlayStation 5. Sony plans to sell the PS5 to be profitable throughout the product’s life; This means Sony will not plan to sell at a loss, offering a lower-than-expected price at launch.
Back to the time of the PlayStation 3. At that time, Sony was defeated by Microsoft for a cheaper Xbox 360. And now, after a heavy failure called Xbox One, Microsoft has found many success factors from the PlayStation itself. Therefore, the calculation of price and development direction for PS5 is being carefully planned by Sony.
For example, if Sony wants to sell PS5 for $ 499, Microsoft wants to compete at $ 399. At this point, Sony will be in its situation in 2006 and Microsoft’s situation in 2013. If Sony offers significantly higher prices in the market, Microsoft will use it as a springboard to promote it.
On the other hand, Sony also could not play under the PS5 price lowering scenario. If they sold for $ 399 to prevent Microsoft from having a price advantage, but if later the Xbox Series X was sold for $ 449, only about $ 50 higher, then Sony would have cut profits by itself without gaining anything. Remember that Microsoft now recognizes that games are a weapon of success for a console, not technology.
So far, users have always rated the Xbox’s gaming potential higher than the PlayStation, from the controller to the machine’s performance. So when Microsoft has the right gaming console, more powerful performance, and an attractive exclusive game store, the game becomes much more difficult for Sony and PlayStation 5.
With the psyche of the users, when the PS4 came out, they thought that this was a cheaper device than the Xbox One, and there were many good games to buy. Let’s say the Xbox Series X costs $ 50 or even $ 100 more than the PS5, but when Microsoft launched a gaming console that had a good experience, it invested heavily in games, the difference. A few dozen dollars is not worth it for users to bother. Also, Microsoft is one of the largest technology companies globally. They can sell less than the PlayStation, but they have a higher profit per player than Sony because of this technological advantage.
On the Sony side, the PS5 may be profitable throughout its life, the company may live better than the PS3, but if it joins a financial battle with Microsoft – one of the richest companies on the planet, Sony will lose a lot of money in this battle.
So Sony’s decision to slow down makes a lot of sense. The company has no reason to rush at all. From the price point to the PS5 release time, Sony knows what it needs to do and is waiting for its competitors’ latest moves. For the past 25 years, Sony has always proven to do something admirable by the community and other rivals. And now it’s time for them to live up to their fans’ expectations, once again, with the PlayStation 5.
And you know what? Microsoft has revealed some notable features of the Xbox Series X already! How will Sony take the next step? Let’s wait and see the happenings ” console war ” this generation!
