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Sony: 1 in 5 PS4s sold since Pro's release are PS4 Pros

You're leaving out the Pro launch here, more precisely the first 10 days on sale.

yeah i know.
still the best numbers from Sony we have and the closest to Ps4 Pro launch


but since Sony gave a % number, not much changes anyway
500k additional ps4 sold through between November 10th and 20th?
<1.9 million instead of <1.8 million
 

Felspawn

Member
I got mine in Feb and I can attest how hard it was for me to fine one in stock, I literally had to drive to the other end of the state.
 
Seems like it's meeting their expectations and it's expected that the lower priced slim is going to make up such a large percentage of sales.

I get it I'm saying I think they need to be more aggressive in marketing it seeing as how they're pushing 4k tvs so much.

40% pro owners are people that upgraded from a regular PS4. They are not marketing it heavily because they don't really care which PS4 a consumer buys plus they did not expect more new people to pick up a pro over a regular going by their comments after the holiday season and so the shipments and marketing wasn't heavy. The whole point of the pro was to stop the decline of hardware sales which usually starts around the middle of a generation. They may even want people to pick up a slim first so they can entice them to upgrade to a pro.

So a large percentage of the Pro audience aren't even new customers. That's an issue that needs to be addressed. I know why the Pro was introduced I simply disagree with their approach. It needs to be pushed as the way to go when buying a PS4 especially as more and more people buy 4k tvs. I don't think I'm alone in saying Sony isn't marketing the system properly. Maybe it's part of their long term plan and they'll get more serious now that Scorpio is coming but that seems reactionary to me when they needed to be aggressive to get the new system buying customer familiar with what it offers. Yes I know a PS4 sale to them is gravy either way I just think that's short sided thinking. I don't know how aggressive they can get on price of course but it seems to me the point in introducing it is to eventually phase the regular system out and have it be the default thus giving more incentive to devs to build to it rather than just patching existing games. Just a difference in opinion I guess.

*edit*

So far they've been pushing the base PS4 because that's what people buy the most, Pro or not it's still the best selling iteration.
Keep in mind that we're closer to the next generation (PS5) as well, PS4P was an option for those that are interested, but you don't see them being aggressive with bundles and what's not, it's for a small demographic not mainstream.
Seems like money wasted at this point, sure there might be bundles this holiday but I don't expect them to push PS4P as much as they will PS4.

Yeah I know I just think that's a faulty mindset for them to have. They need to push the pro as the reason to buy a PS4. Unless they're being price constrained I don't see a reason why they shouldn't be doing this. It puts additional price pressure on MS to get Scorpio priced right too. I actually agree with MS that the generation model we've had up to this point needs to die and the iterative model needs to be pushed. There's no reason they can't get aggressive with the Pro and have it be the default system. It doesn't hurt the existing base and it allows devs to feel confident in building for the higher spec machine while maintaining compatibility with the regular PS4.
 
1 in 5 is great considering the average consumer would go for the cheapest unit, as long as it does the job.

Could've been 2 in 5 had Sony not dropped the ball on features like 4K Blu-ray.
 

jeffram

Member
So... maybe 2 sku's of PS5 at launch?

1 in 5 is less than I thought.

Personally I upgraded from launch to slim. In Australia it was $230AU more for a Pro at the time I wanted to upgrade, I don't have a 4k screen, not all games down sample and I have a gaming PC. I still feel happy with my choice.
No, I think a mid gen refresh is what we'll get again. They launched the pro because technology (14nm) allowed them to do it. Pushing out a Pro at launch will create a sku that's too expensive and likely not differentiated enough from the base system.
 
Sounds like it isn't a lot, but given that the Pro is basically just a machine designed to deliver better looking versions of the same games, especially for 4k TV owners, it kinda makes sense that Pro only make for 1/5th of total Ps4 sales.

Do you think thats any indication for Scorpio demand?
 
People saying it is low despite Sony saying it has surpassed their expectations. This was always a a console meant to supplement the OG SKU. Why do people keep thinking these mid-gen consoles are supposed to be more than that?
 

ViciousDS

Banned
I'd have thought more, in all honesty

its an enthusiast product and marketed as so. They weren't expecting huge sales......people need to realize this, the base PS4 is still their number one priority.

I still think that cross gen titles will aim at PS4, Pro and PS5 when it comes out.....then a few years after will stop targeting the PS4 family all together. It's not meant to last that long but just deliver better games in the middle of the cycle and will have the same life as the OG PS4.

I think when the PS4 gets ousted, the Pro will get ousted at the same time.
 

sense

Member
I get it I'm saying I think they need to be more aggressive in marketing it seeing as how they're pushing 4k tvs so much.



So a large percentage of the Pro audience aren't even new customers. That's an issue that needs to be addressed. I know why the Pro was introduced I simply disagree with their approach. It needs to be pushed as the way to go when buying a PS4 especially as more and more people buy 4k tvs. I don't think I'm alone in saying Sony isn't marketing the system properly. Maybe it's part of their long term plan and they'll get more serious now that Scorpio is coming but that seems reactionary to me when they needed to be aggressive to get the new system buying customer familiar with what it offers. Yes I know a PS4 sale to them is gravy either way I just think that's short sided thinking. I don't know how aggressive they can get on price of course but it seems to me the point in introducing it is to eventually phase the regular system out and have it be the default thus giving more incentive to devs to build to it rather than just patching existing games. Just a difference in opinion I guess.

Maybe they haven't been heavily promoting it is because they want to get their production run in order, get developers comfortable with optimizing for the pro, costs can come down further in a year and with Scorpio being year away as far as 4K mania goes, they probably realized they have time to breathe and decided to focus on profit over trying to push it harder for people to upgrade early. There have been no official bundles as far as I am aware. I am expecting all the big partnerships this year to have a pro bundle and maybe even a 50$ price cut if they want to put pressure on Scorpio. Like you, I personally expected them to be aggressive from day 1 but then thinking about it, I can see why they may have been a bit cautious and wanted to see how things go.
 

Kureransu

Member
You know i honestly thought it was going to be a little more, but it seems everyone in the world has the same percentage as japan, based on Media create numbers. They have the pro sitting at 19.7% of total ps4 sales this year.

It makes me wonder though, if PS4 sells another 20 million this year, is 4 million Pros really worth the effort?
 
People saying it is low despite Sony saying it has surpassed their expectations. This was always a a console meant to supplement the OG SKU. Why do people keep thinking these mid-gen consoles are supposed to be more than that?

I think they need to be more than that because unless you push devs along most will build for the lowest common denominator and the new system won't be taken as seriously as it could be. I guess my question would be: what is the harm in Sony phasing the regular PS4 out and focusing on the Pro with the stipulation that the games have to be compatible with the regular system? It's essentially reverse of what's going on now and that seems a rather backwards way of thinking to me. Push the new hardware it's not like people are going to stop buying the Pro because they discontinued the regular PS4. The system has the name power and branding to make it happen yet I think Sony is being tepid in their handling of the system.

Maybe they haven't been heavily promoting it is because they want to get their production run in order, get developers comfortable with optimizing for the pro, costs can come down further in a year and with Scorpio being year away as far as 4K mania goes, they probably realized they have time to breathe and decided to focus on profit over trying to push it harder for people to upgrade early. There have been no official bundles as far as I am aware. I am expecting all the big partnerships this year to have a pro bundle and maybe even a 50$ price cut if they want to put pressure on Scorpio. Like you, I personally expected them to be aggressive from day 1 but then thinking about it, I can see why they may have been a bit cautious and wanted to see how things go.

Yeah I've thought about that and if that's the case I guess Scorpio is gonna be an indicator of how aggressive Sony needs to be assuming Scorpio isn't a total flop out of the gate. I know it's early and that makes me think a successor to the Pro isn't coming for at least 3 years.
 

amdb00mer

Member
Both products exceeding expectations is hurting them...how?

Exceeding? Um, don't think so. I think if they had only released the PSVR it would have sold double the amount or more. Same could be said for the Pro. Also, I forgot about releasing a PS4 slim at the same time as well. So those that may have upgraded to a Pro may not have and went for the cheaper slim or nothing at all. Sometimes too much choice can be a bad thing.
 

jroc74

Phone reception is more important to me than human rights
You know i honestly thought it was going to be a little more, but it seems everyone in the world has the same percentage as japan, based on Media create numbers. They have the pro sitting at 19.7% of total ps4 sales this year.

It makes me wonder though, if PS4 sells another 20 million this year, is 4 million Pros really worth the effort?

The Pro was also a way to test the waters for mid gen refreshes.

I'd say it was worth it.

People saying it is low despite Sony saying it has surpassed their expectations. This was always a a console meant to supplement the OG SKU. Why do people keep thinking these mid-gen consoles are supposed to be more than that?

.

Mainly because this is the first time a revision had such a specs increase. Kinda makes you wonder about the Scorpio. I wonder would the be happy with similar numbers?
 

jeffram

Member
I get it I'm saying I think they need to be more aggressive in marketing it seeing as how they're pushing 4k tvs so much.



So a large percentage of the Pro audience aren't even new customers. That's an issue that needs to be addressed. I know why the Pro was introduced I simply disagree with their approach. It needs to be pushed as the way to go when buying a PS4 especially as more and more people buy 4k tvs. I don't think I'm alone in saying Sony isn't marketing the system properly. Maybe it's part of their long term plan and they'll get more serious now that Scorpio is coming but that seems reactionary to me when they needed to be aggressive to get the new system buying customer familiar with what it offers. Yes I know a PS4 sale to them is gravy either way I just think that's short sided thinking. I don't know how aggressive they can get on price of course but it seems to me the point in introducing it is to eventually phase the regular system out and have it be the default thus giving more incentive to devs to build to it rather than just patching existing games. Just a difference in opinion I guess.

I feel like you have very different expectations on what the Pro is than Sony does. They said it themselves that this is 1: A product for people who have higher expectations on graphics. 2: To slow down the rate of which consumers gravitate towards the PC. Having a high rate of upgraders is in line with this, they are your core users who want better graphics and likely won't gravitate towards PC with a Pro in their homes.

They never said that this was the new platform to drive the future of playstation. The base system is and always will be their primary seller, and they've produced units with that ratio in mind. If Sony was going for 50/50, their would be 3 million PS4 Pros on store shelves right now.

Look at the way they market. They don't talk about base vs. pro, they just market their games and their IPs. They are selling PS4s at an incredible clip, and don't care if it's pros or not. This is a stark contrast to the way Microsoft is marketing the s, which is "LOOK AT THIS NEW BOX IT'S THE BEST BOX, 4K!" because they are looking for the box to significantly boost sales.

Even if you look at it from a purely competitive position, you could say that the Pro boosted PS4 sales by 20%, or 2M units, while the competition only sold 5M units total in the same time period. A boost of 2M units is a significant amount.
 
Exceeding? Um, don't think so. I think if they had only released the PSVR it would have sold double the amount or more. Same could be said for the Pro. Also, I forgot about releasing a PS4 slim at the same time as well. So those that may have upgraded to a Pro may not have and went for the cheaper slim or nothing at all. Sometimes too much choice can be a bad thing.

PSVR could not sold double the amount because they could not make double the amount.
Also just because it's in your area does not mean it does not have supply problems .
 

Wollan

Member
Wonder if the same ratio will apply to Scorpio. I'm expecting a bit higher due to lower sales of Xbox so far and it releasing farther out in the generation.
 

Shin

Banned
Yeah I know I just think that's a faulty mindset for them to have. They need to push the pro as the reason to buy a PS4. Unless they're being price constrained I don't see a reason why they shouldn't be doing this. It puts additional price pressure on MS to get Scorpio priced right too. I actually agree with MS that the generation model we've had up to this point needs to die and the iterative model needs to be pushed. There's no reason they can't get aggressive with the Pro and have it be the default system. It doesn't hurt the existing base and it allows devs to feel confident in building for the higher spec machine while maintaining compatibility with the regular PS4.

Agreed, since we're PC-like now, smartphones get an upgrade every year as do computer parts so why shouldn't console (not every year, but you get the idea).
There's no set rule as to when a generation starts and end either so not really sure what to make of that.
I think it's a given that they will push Pro come this holiday because of Scorpio and that's a good thing for everyone.
So far they've been letting things unfold naturally to see how it goes, especially since it was a first for console space.
 

amdb00mer

Member
I fail to see how. PS4 is still selling better and I don't think Scorpio is going to shift it dramatically. And I don't see how VR would affect it.

That's just it, PS4, not Pro, not PSVR, is selling better. Pro did not give them a bump and neither did PSVR. I think they should have held off and released the Pro with the PSVR module built in making PSVR easier to hook up and use. I still think the basic PS4, not Pro, will easily outsell Scorpio. It will be an interesting holiday no matter what with the multiple offerings from Sony and MS. And let's not forget about the Switch.
 

leeh

Member
People saying it is low despite Sony saying it has surpassed their expectations. This was always a a console meant to supplement the OG SKU. Why do people keep thinking these mid-gen consoles are supposed to be more than that?
Severe supply restrictions also.
 
I honestly thought that the ratio would be higher, but if it is doing better than they projected, then that's good.

It also shows me once again how out of touch I am when it comes to the gaming market I guess.
 

Coxy100

Banned
Only 1 and 5?

Okay, I got to say something otherwise that's super duper bait. I sorta expected the average consumer to go for the higher end - was the Pro pushed and bundled as much as the Slim?
Keep seeing people say this and I don't get it. Why would an average consumer buying at this stage of the life cycle buy the more expensive product? They would clearly be price conscious - hence waiting this long
 
I feel like you have very different expectations on what the Pro is than Sony does. They said it themselves that this is 1: A product for people who have higher expectations on graphics. 2: To slow down the rate of which consumers gravitate towards the PC. Having a high rate of upgraders is in line with this, they are your core users who want better graphics and likely won't gravitate towards PC with a Pro in their homes.

They never said that this was the new platform to drive the future of playstation. The base system is and always will be their primary seller, and they've produced units with that ratio in mind. If Sony was going for 50/50, their would be 3 million PS4 Pros on store shelves right now.

Look at the way they market. They don't talk about base vs. pro, they just market their games and their IPs. They are selling PS4s at an incredible clip, and don't care if it's pros or not. This is a stark contrast to the way Microsoft is marketing the s, which is "LOOK AT THIS NEW BOX IT'S THE BEST BOX, 4K!" because they are looking for the box to significantly boost sales.

Even if you look at it from a purely competitive position, you could say that the Pro boosted PS4 sales by 20%, or 2M units, while the competition only sold 5M units total in the same time period. A boost of 2M units is a significant amount.

I understand everything you're saying and my issue is yes, I see the pro differently than Sony. I'd just like them to be more aggressive with it.

Agreed, since we're PC-like now, smartphones get an upgrade every year as do computer parts so why shouldn't console (not every year, but you get the idea).
There's no set rule as to when a generation starts and end either so not really sure what to make of that.
I think it's a given that they will push Pro come this holiday because of Scorpio and that's a good thing for everyone.
So far they've been letting things unfold naturally to see how it goes, especially since it was a first for console space.

Yeah true and it's one reason I'm not real upset with it. It's new territory and they can't be totally blamed for being a bit conservative. I guess my word choice seems stronger than my actual feelings. I'm not pissed at them for how they're handling the system I'd just like to see them focus on it far more than they are atm.
 

sense

Member
I guess my question would be: what is the harm in Sony phasing the regular PS4 out and focusing on the Pro with the stipulation that the games have to be compatible with the regular system? It's essentially reverse of what's going on now and that seems a rather backwards way of thinking to me. Push the new hardware it's not like people are going to stop buying the Pro because they discontinued the regular PS4.
You always want to have a cheaper entry level system for budget consumers because at the end of the day, you make more money through game sales and add ons and getting people invested in the ecosystem. A pro can't be sold for $199 or $150 but the Slim can be while keeping their profit margins for the next 2 or 3 years so they would not phase it out.
 
Pro doesn't seem worth it, so I'm not shocked the Slim outsells it 4:1.

Had no idea it was supply constrained. Can walk to my local supermarket and find the shelves chock-full of Pros.

I may be biased as I got my Pro with Rise of the Tomb Raider + Deus Ex: MD for $399, but it was definitely worth it. I waited a little bit for a GameStop offer and ended up getting ~220 for my old PS4, so minus the games and trade in, I upgraded for ~100
 

AmuroChan

Member
I don't buy this narrative of "is above expectations". Sony clearly released the PS4 Pro with a replacement mindset.

If they were clearly releasing with a replacement mindset, wouldn't they just call it the PS5 then? That seems like Marketing 101. How many casual PS4 owners are going to look at the name PS4 Pro and immediately think, "yep, that's a replacement for my PS4"?
 

cheesekao

Member
Exceeding? Um, don't think so.
We got comments straight from the horses' mouth. If you don't believe it then whatever floats your boat.

I think if they had only released the PSVR it would have sold double the amount or more. Same could be said for the Pro. Also, I forgot about releasing a PS4 slim at the same time as well. So those that may have upgraded to a Pro may not have and went for the cheaper slim or nothing at all. Sometimes too much choice can be a bad thing.
These are all simply your assumptions. How can you be so sure they could've doubled production beyond "I THINK they could've"? Furthermore, even if the slim didn't exist, the OG PS4 was still a thing so that argument of yours is pretty much null.
 

sense

Member
I don't buy this narrative of "is above expectations". Sony clearly released the PS4 Pro with a replacement mindset.
Lol Let me get this straight - they introduced a new slim version of the OG PS4 and the pro at the same time but somehow the pro was released clearly with a replacement mindset?
 
That seems quite low.

Then again, since I got mine, several of my mates got the regular or slim model. I'd been telling them good the Pro so I asked them why they didn't get it and they all said something along the lines of they didn't think it was worth the extra cost.
 

jeffram

Member
I don't buy this narrative of "is above expectations". Sony clearly released the PS4 Pro with a replacement mindset.

Why did they make roughly 8million PS4s and 2 million PS4pros since the pro launched then?

If they were trying to replace it would have been reversed, and there would be 5 million unsold PS4 pros in the wild.
 
You always want to have a cheaper entry level system for budget consumers because at the end of the day, you make more money through game sales and add ons and getting people invested in the ecosystem. A pro can't be sold for $199 or $150 but the Slim can be while keeping their profit margins for the next 2 or 3 years so they would not phase it out.

Eh I don't really agree with that. We don't know that you always need to have the cheaper version offered because we haven't had this situation before. How do we know that phasing the regular PS4 out for the Pro would hurt their momentum? We don't. It's all speculation at this point. Give people enough reason to buy the product and they'll buy it at the price you want to sell it for. It's always been like this.
 

RoboPlato

I'd be in the dick
Seems OK for the time being. They've recently started picking up marketing for the Pro, I've seen more ads and local chain stores have put it more front and center, so it'll be interesting to see how it does as the year goes on.
 

Alebrije

Member
That seems quite low.

Then again, since I got mine, several of my mates got the regular or slim model. I'd been telling them good the Pro so I asked them why they didn't get it and they all said something along the lines of they didn't think it was worth the extra cost.

Think the lack of 4K blu ray player had its consequences. Also not all people have 4K tv, would be interesting to know the ratio of 4K tv vs 1080p on PS4 owners. Maybe 30% have 4K and 70% 1080p. so do not find any reason to get a PRO.
 
Eh I don't really agree with that. We don't know that you always need to have the cheaper version offered because we haven't had this situation before. How do we know that phasing the regular PS4 out for the Pro would hurt their momentum? We don't. It's all speculation at this point. Give people enough reason to buy the product and they'll buy it at the price you want to sell it for. It's always been like this.

They need a cheaper version because MS will have one .
Sony not going to push a $400 only system with MS having a $200 to $250 around XMAS time.
 

jdmonmou

Member
My gut and bias is telling me that Sony had hoped to sell more PS4 Pros than that. 1 in 5 sales being a PS4 Pro means that of 1 million PS4 sales only 200,000 are PS4 Pros. It was only a few months ago that Sony was saying that PS4 Pros were selling more than PS4 Slim so I guess the OG 500 GB model is still the reigning king?

When this is all said and done I hope Sony comes to the conclusion that mid-gen upgrades are unnecessary and just stick with the traditional console generation. The best strategy to rejuvenate sales is not new hardware, but rather new and exclusive games. If Sony played their cards right they could've released a PS5 in 2018 that's more powerful than the Scorpio. If they plan on doing that there will be backlash from PS4 Pro owners that will be screaming too soon.
 
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