Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter has said he expects PlayStation 4 Neo to launch anywhere between March-June 2017.
Speaking with Gamertag Radio, Pachter said he doesn’t think Sony’s upgraded PS4 hardware will arrive in late 2016, which has been heavily rumored as the launch window.
"You don’t have a company in the gaming space that is better equipped to launch hardware than Sony. They’ve been making consumer electronics for 70 years. I think the fact that we didn’t see Neo here means it probably isn’t coming out this holiday.
"I think if it was coming out this holiday, it’s already in fabrication, they’ve already got the components made, and you would actually know, so I think, no. I think they’re going to launch [PlayStation] VR in October, Neo probably in March, April, May, June, sometime next year, probably ahead of the holidays.
"It’s easier to manage a product launch in mid-year because you don’t have gift givers buying it, so you don’t have quite as big of a demand and you can actually satisfy demand from the fanboys. So I think it’s probably an early next year launch, and I think that’s why Microsoft announced Scorpio."
Pachter made the comments during a discussion about the Nintendo NX, which he also feels won’t meet its intended release window of March 2017.
PS4 Neo will result in prettier visuals, but it won’t replace the existing PS4
PS4 Neo has been rumored since the beginning of the year, although it wasn’t until a few weeks ago that Sony made it official during an interview with The Guardian. However, the console was not shown at E3, nor was it powering any of the impressive demos on dispaly.
Andrew House, President and Group CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), revealed that the system isn’t designed as a replacement for the current PS4, and that users can expect games to run with increased visual fidelity on the Neo.
In addition, Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida recently asserted that the release of the Neo will not mean a shorter hardware cycle for the PS4.
It’s rumored that the console maker will fully unveil the new hardware at the Tokyo Game Show this September.