I wouldn't necessarily say that, without knowing the costs associated with each console or the actual specs (but we'll go with the agreed upon narrative right now), we can't say whether Sony are being realistic or conservative. Likewise we can't say whether MS are being overambitious.
On the face of it, MS are betting big on attempting to win back some of the consumers they lost this generation. It's entirely possible that they're eating a relatively large loss on each console sold in the hopes of winning back more market share. If so, that could bite them in the butt if not enough consumers come back and/or they can't cost reduce as aggressively as they hope to be able to.
If I were to rate each maker on the specs that many seem to believe is real (I'm still not convinced we have the right numbers for both consoles) then I see...
- Sony having the more realistic approach to building their console, with an eye towards balancing the most powerful console they can make WRT how much money they expect to make during this next generation. Basically they are working within their established budget (expectations being that they'll retain all or most of their users from this generation).
- Microsoft are over-achieving with their console. They have large cash reserves and the board has OK'd dipping into it heavily in order to win back consumers lost during the last generation. The plan is to grow and establish a large software ecosystem (PC, Console, and streaming with Netflix like game subscriptions alongside software purchases) with consumer confidence that whatever they buy, they'll be able to run it forever on whatever hardware they get. This could be seen as a stepping stone towards that, so they may be willing to take a loss, break even, or just have a small profit for this generation.
There's also many other narratives that we could come up with. Lockhart if it is released changes the dynamics of having a very expensive console (Anaconda). PS5 could be more powerful than people are currently saying it is. Perhaps there's some breakthrough in technology (whether fab related or other tech related) coming along that we don't know about that will change the cost calculations of the consoles this generation.
Basically...WE DON'T KNOW.
And I see far too many people just buying into the narrative that
these are the specs for this generation of consoles (and then either patting themselves on the back, panicking or whatever) rather than these just being data points that might or might not be valid when the consoles release to retail.
Regards,
SB