So what was Sony's logic behind not including a 4K blu ray player?
Not trying to incite a console war here, just legitimately curious....
Cost? A push toward digital? Struggle 4K blu ray sales? A desire to not have too much functional difference between the Slim and Pro versions?
Strategy - take immediate advantage of 4K hardware price decrease and availability.
MS whether they wanted to or not, HAD to include a UHD drive in the S because they needed to make a move to prevent them from getting lapped this generation. I'm sure they would have preferred to wait until Scorpio to make that decision because they're taking a loss selling their console with a UHD drive for $249.
It's a gamble, you either bet on the future or you bet on the now. UHD media and players aren't even a year old at the release of the Pro so there are no overwhelming numbers to justify including the drive in their latest console refresh. That doesn't at all mean that they won't eventually become the defacto physical media player of choice. We've had the physical vs. digital media argument dozens of times here but if you take sales out of the argument and talk about pure consumption, digital streaming media is the preference of the average consumer. We know this is the preference because the number of consumers cutting the cord is rising exponentially every year.
The "Prosumer" is concerned about a lack of a UHD drive but the thought process there is these are the people who spend thousands on their entertainment setups. They already own a stand alone player or will purchase one to fit their needs as money isn't an option for them. The average consumer doesn't really care unless they parrot the "prosumers" concerns.
