Report: Sony will use the PS4 to fill the PS5 supply gap:
With the PlayStation 5 still hard to find at retail amid worldwide semiconductor shortages, Sony has canceled plans to discontinue the PS4, extending the system's life through 2022.
That's according to a Bloomberg News report citing "people familiar with the matter" who say that Sony told assembly partners that it had planned to discontinue the PS4 at the end of 2021. Instead, the company now plans this year to produce a million units of the older console, which uses less-advanced chips that are easier to source. Sony could adjust that number based on demand.
For context, the PS4 sold 1.7 million units in the first nine months of 2021, according to financial reports, compared to 8.9 million PS5 units in that same time.
Sony, for its part, denied that it had previously considered stopping PS4 production. "It is one of the best-selling consoles ever, and there is always crossover between generations," the company told Bloomberg. Indeed, the PS3 continued to be produced in Japan until 2017, over three years after the introduction of the PS4. And the PS2 was still in production at the end of 2012, missing an overlap with the PS4 production by just one year. In general, popular consoles can continue to sell for years after their successors launch.
At the risk of starting a console war, do any console users want to tell us why they chose their console and what makes it better than any another? Is it something that other family members use or is it just for you to relax with?
(Score: 2) by looorg on Sunday January 16 2022, @10:03AM (1 child)
They did bring back the NES in 2018, but for classic and nostalgia, for a limited run. That said I'm not sure if it was an actual old one or if it was some FPGA implementation. There is also a NES mini. Still they are not really "gap" machines but more or nostalgia or retro.
Regarding the news in general. Isn't it a bit weird to keep making the last generation machine just cause you can't find part or keep the new generation in production? Is anyone going to be happy getting a PS4 when they wanted a PS5?
(Score: 2) by DrkShadow on Sunday January 16 2022, @02:05PM
Are you saying that you missed the SNES classic?
https://www.nintendo.com/super-nes-classic/ [nintendo.com]
Roughly the cost of the original! (includes some games)