Like all great hardware purges, Sony is starting with Japan. It happened with the Vita, and now it's going to happen to the PS4.
As reported by Game Watch, Sony Interactive Entertainment Japan Asia will be phasing out all PS4 Pro models and all but one PS4 Slim model. In short, the only PS4 that will be actively sold in Japan by Sony will be the PS4 slim 500GB Jet Black model. As Gematsu points out, the "OG" PS4 has been discontinued already.
Although the PS4 had a fantastic run, hitting 113.5 million units and counting (putting it squarely in the top five all-time best-selling console list, right above the original PlayStation), Sony is obviously looking to the future here.
There's a lot of considerations when it comes to hardware, like physical retailer shelf space, as well as manufacturing concerns and overhead. Sony needs to meet the PS5 demand and get hardware into the hands of everyone they can; and move out of an era of PS5 "lotteries" and chaos. For Sony, it's the beginning of a new era. For PlayStation fans and collectors, it's the end of one.
