Japanese game site Game Watch is reporting that Sony has discontinued production of the PlayStation 4 Pro console, along with the 1TB PS4 “Slim” and the “Glacial White” versions of the PS4 and PS4 Pro. Only the 500GB Slim version of the console will remain in production.
Any current stocks in Japan for the discontinued SKUs are all that remain. Once they sell out, they will be completely gone. There has been no indication that this will affect the US and Europe at the present time. VGC reported that the US PlayStation online store briefly indicated that PS4 Pros would no longer be available after the current stock was gone. That message was later removed.
Previously, PlayStation executive Jim Ryan has gone on record about the PS4 user base saying, “It is crucial that we keep them engaged and happy.” Meanwhile, Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki stated in an earnings call last year (covered by the Financial Times) that the company was committed to surpassing sales of PS4 units, which at last count totaled approximately 114 million consoles.
By comparison, Microsoft discontinued their Xbox One X and Xbox One S All-Digital Edition SKUs well ahead of the launch of the Xbox Series X/S consoles. And while the consoles are no longer in production, the support for the consoles is likely to remain in place for some time yet. Ryan speculated that the PS4 community will be “the vast majority of people on PlayStations” until 2022.
Food For Thought
By discontinuing production of the PS4 Pro, Sony is effectively freeing up capacity which can be redirected towards expanding PS5 production without having to go through the expense of building completely new manufacturing facilities. That being said, such a redirection isn’t likely to immediately lessen the scarcity of PS5 consoles. Eventually, all PS4 production will certainly be discontinued and shifted over to the PS5 or its potential successor. But for now, Japanese gamers who haven’t gotten a PS4 Pro (or are looking for a spare) are now on the clock to do so.
