[haunter]

Does anyone find this interesting compared to the smartphone market where Apple and Samsung are pushing out $1k phones _every single year_?

You can say it's hard to find a PS5 at MSRP ($499 or $399 if digital) but it's still on a multi year (+5 at least) release cycle. Whereas the current iPhone generation (14) starts at $799 and $999. And next year you get a new one, and the next year another. And prices will increase too. I don't know the whole thing is just crazy to me.

[UltraViolence]

Why would you get a new one next year?

Apple devices are supported for a long time and are essentially cheaper than most Chinese offerings that cost less than half the price of an iPhone.

[sarsway]

Mobile market is gigantic, Apple & Samsung make like 10x the money, they have much bigger teams.

People don't buy a new phone every year.

A lot of people buy $300 Android or previous generation iPhones.

A lot of people still do multi year contracts.

Most years the phones are just slightly updated versions of their predecessors, not complete new developments.

Console sometimes release updated versions as well.

Consoles need to be affordable for younger people.

Phone money is in hardware and micro-transactions. Console money is in game purchases. Consoles do best with a fresh slate every handful of years.

[giantrobot]

Even if you did buy a new iPhone every year, all of your apps, content, and services immediately port over to the new device. An iPhone doesn't ask you for $60 to run the Facebook app on the latest model.

Besides that you're presupposing someone buys a new iPhone every year and that an iPhone doesn't have any more utility than a game console. Despite the capabilities of modern consoles they're mainly used for games and secondarily for streaming. For a not insignificant number of people their smartphone is their primary computing device. Smartphones are used for more and more often than gaming consoles. I also don't know a single person that buys a new iPhone every year. Even the most well off people I know that are iPhone fans upgrade only every other year.

Sony has had a weird history around backwards compatibility, Microsoft didn't really bother until the latest generation of their consoles, and Nintendo is pretty much allergic to the idea. Not only do consoles not do as much for people as smartphones but they require an investment in new games when you do upgrade.

[foolfoolz]

makes sense to me. your phone is a huge part of you. it’s value is growing. today you might carry a wallet with you. you won’t every day in 5 years. your phone will become your entire source of identity, finances, contact. you have your phone at all times or know where it is. game consoles are nothing like this. just like game consoles you aren’t buying a new phone each year. but they are worth the money

[Dylan16807]

For scheduling: Consoles guarantee near perfect compatibility in a way that phones don't. And if you upgrade every two years you can trade in or sell the old phone for half the price of the new phone.

As for the price, small is expensive, and the cost per hour of use is not a lot. Also plenty of phones are much cheaper. The high-end mirror of consoles is a gaming PC.

[adammarples]

They also need games. Getting a new playstation every year that didn't have any games yet would be kind of pointless.

[thaumasiotes]

Putting out a $1,000 console every year would be self-defeating in another way - a console has two value propositions:

1. Platform exclusives.

2. It's cheaper than a computer.

Otherwise, it's a gimped computer that won't run most of the stuff you want and is difficult to use.

Putting out a new model every year will make your console significantly more expensive than getting a computer. If you raise the price to $1,000, it will make your console insanely more expensive than getting a computer.

[badpun]

Also, no fooling around with graphics drivers, wondering if your rig's specs are good enough etc. On the other hand, gaming PC have mouse+keyboard input.

[exitb]

Consoles themselves are typically sold at cost or loss even. Sony makes majority of the money on games and associated services. In that model it just makes sense keep the release cycle as long as possible.

In the phone business there are associated services too, but the hardware itself can be immensely profitable.

[civopsec]

Makes no sense to me. Edit: Specifically the PS5 shortage with this phone situation in mind..

[justsomehnguy]

> And next year you get a new one, and the next year another

You can't wear your PS5 to flaunt how rich, current, stylish, trendy you are.

People are happy to shell out money for a status symbols. US practice of contract subsidizing the price of the phone helped it greatly, when even high schoolers could get it.

[scarface74]

Yes because in a country where 50% of the people own an iPhone and you can get one by working 5 hours on minimum wage per month, it’s really a “status symbol” to have the same thing everyone else has and it shows you are “rich” that you can afford to pay $30/month.

[justsomehnguy]

https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...

[scarface74]

So is Windows also bought as a status symbol because of better interoperability?