Okay, so I was waiting to get back home to check the PS4 user's manual (safety guide), which is actually what I was initially going to do instead of replying, but I was bored out of my mind, so blame my inability to remain still while meandering around the Internet on a "workday". Amidst all this discussion, I recall seeing there that the PS4 doesn't play CDs, but somehow misremembered the guide also stating that the blu-ray drive didn't include the laser specific for CD playback. Well, long story short, my replies were mainly based on anecdotal information that I read or heard, which inevitably were erroneous.
As the image below indicates...
The PS4 has three lasers, one being for CDs.
So, other than Sony's penchant to push their failed streaming service, it all boils down to a licensing issue, or in other words them being cheap.
Now, at the risk of being an obstinate fool, I still believe there's some piece of hardware missing solely based on what I read/heard, but I honestly don't have the will (or the time) to go on an expedition to verify this, nor the skills needed to disassemble my PS4 and check myself. But hey, my apologies - to err is human, as the saying goes.
With a little Google digging, I found that it uses a KES-860 PHA drive. I cannot find any technical specifications about that drive, though. Only that it's for sale online.
As far as I know, that's for the original; the PS4 Slim (CUH-2115B), which is the one I have, uses KEM-496AAA.