An analyst recently predicted that a "next-generation PlayStation" will be coming sooner than what everyone expected. According to Damian Thong, the said console, expected to be the PlayStation 5, will be the offing come 2018.
The PlayStation 5 should be expected during the latter half of next year if Thong is to be believed. Thong, who is connected with Macquarie Capital Securities, is as reliable as they come. He correctly predicted the release of the PlayStation 4 Slim and the PlayStation 4 Pro so there is some credence to his new speculation.
If this prediction proves true, some believe that current consoles in the market will be greatly affected and, yes, this includes Sony's own consoles. For Sony, news that a PlayStation 5 will be coming next year does not bode well for them. The company just released the PlayStation 4 Pro in November last year. This means the latest console has just been selling for around 5 months. Anyone interested in purchasing a console may think twice before getting a PS4 Pro. The thinking here is why get the PS4 Pro when a better Sony PlayStation is coming in a matter of months.
On the other hand, news of a new PlayStation will put Nintendo and Microsoft at a disadvantage. Those who are looking at buying a new home console and seriously considering the Xbox Scorpio or the Nintendo Switch may now do a double-take and wait until more details about the PS5 are announced before deciding on which one to get. Nintendo is in a bit of a better place. Since it is a hybrid console, the Switch caters to both home and portable gamers. As for the Project Scorpio, it directly competes with the PS5 unless, of course, Sony decides that the PlayStation 5 should be a hybrid console, too.
There are also rumors saying the PlayStation 5 will have true 4K gaming along with 10 teraflops of power. This may be enough to convince people to skip the Xbox Scorpio, which will offer "only" six teraflops of power. Additionally, AMD has a new GPU available and an even newer one, with a Vega alias, coming real soon. That said, Sony will likely utilize one of them.
In short, an official announcement regarding an early 2018 release for the PlayStation 5 will both be good and bad for Sony. For Microsoft and Nintendo, however, it will mainly be bad.
