This is a question that many in the gaming community ask themselves. Two years after the successful release of the PS5, Sony continues to manufacture and sell the PS4, but why? This question is asked more now than ever, especially since many new game releases choose to skip over the PS4 and older consoles. However, there are two important factors to consider when asking this question.
Price
The PS5 was announced as a high-end console, meaning it would inevitably be expensive and out of reach of many. This was a trend that was also followed by Microsoft, who announced that their new Xbox Series X would also be high-end. To combat this issue, Microsoft decided to include a smaller, less powerful and cheaper model dubbed the Xbox Series S. With this move, Microsoft was able to deliver the "next-generation" experience to even more people who couldn't afford more expensive consoles and were able to discontinue the Xbox One with ease. Sony on the other hand did not introduce a budget console and instead announced a single PS5, at a cost that some would consider staggering.
High Demand
As is normal at the release of any new game console, a huge waiting list was immediately formed. The issue was that since the PS5 was such a high-end item its manufacturing process was not for the impatient, meaning that many people would spend months scouring the stores and websites to find a PS5, some to no avail.
Both of these factors combined with the fact that there was no budget model to fix any matters, Sony's best option was to continue selling the last-generation PS4 along with the PS5.
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Written by Tom Conmy
Interesting. Thanks Tom.