Well, and just the history, that literally every prior generation of PlayStation had one or more eventual size-reduced versions come out, though the time gap is

Well, and just the history, that literally every prior generation of PlayStation had one or more eventual size-reduced versions come out, though the time gap is clearly shrinking: PSX launch was 1994, PSone in 2000. PS2 launch was 2000, slim in 2004. PS3 launch was 2006, slim in 2009, super slim in 2012. PS4 launch was 2013, slim + pro in 2016. It's interesting to see them roll out power-reduction die shrinks on the launch chassis— presumably they'll be able to monitor telemetry on these units over time and that'll allow them to build confidence on moving into a chassis with a drastically-reduced size and weight footprint. Given that the PS5 launched in late 2020, it's not unreasonable to expect a PS5 slim for the 2023 holiday season.