Sony may outsource production of the Cell processor

[zekrahminator]

Sony knows just as well as any of us do that $600 for a console is simply too much, especially when compared to a $250 Wii and a $400 Xbox360. And so, Sony is looking for ways to lower the price. The best one so far is to find a way to cut chip spending, and to do this, they need to outsource Cell production. This isn't as desperate as it may sound. Sony has been making their own chips since the birth of the PS1, but costs have been becoming quite steep as of late. Sony has spent $3.8 Billion USD since April 2004 on chips alone. The only thing preventing them from getting another company to develop these chips for them at a lower price was a lack of said companies. Now, there are several options for Sony, and Sony will likely outsource Cell production to bring their costs down.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[WarEagleAU]

This is good news. I would have though the proc and the BD player were the expensive portions of the PS3

 

[jocksteeluk]

one thing positive to say about Sony is when they manufacture something themselves you can guarantee the build quality will be exemplary but when they outsource (EG: Laptop battery's) you can almost guarantee future problems to arise. The Cell chips are a complicated chip to manufacture and i can see a lot of inferior made 3rd party made chips causing Sony problems.

 

[kwchang007]

hmm, this could go either way. either there will be lots of recalled ps3's due to outsorced chips, or ps3 prices should plunge. any word on how much this kind of ps3 would cost?

 

[KennyT772]

well what if they outsource to intel or amd? ibm even. who knows where things would go. when was the last time you had a doa amd or intel chip?

 

[kwchang007]

well what if they outsource to intel or amd? ibm even. who knows where things would go. when was the last time you had a doa amd or intel chip?

doa? dang, if they outsourced to one of the big chip makers, they'd have no problem, and the cell would be way cheaper

 

[Wile E]

Didn't Sony co-develop the cell processor with someone else?

 

[kwchang007]

Didn't Sony co-develop the cell processor with someone else?

i think it was ibm

 

[Wile E]

i think it was ibm

I thought that's what I heard. If it is true, it makes perfect sense for Sony to hand production off to IBM.

 

[kwchang007]

I thought that's what I heard. If it is true, it makes perfect sense for Sony to hand production off to IBM.

yeah. espically since ibm has been making chips for consoles since....a long time ago, i think.

 

[Wile E]

yeah. espically since ibm has been making chips for consoles since....a long time ago, i think.

They make the 360's chips.

 

[kwchang007]

They make the 360's chips.

ok. i wonder how much they could bring the ps3's price down by outsourcing? or maybe they'll keep prices the same and not lose so much money on it

 

[Wile E]

ok. i wonder how much they could bring the ps3's price down by outsourcing? or maybe they'll keep prices the same and not lose so much money on it

I don't know, but I think $500 wouldn't be too bad of a price for the top model.

 

[kwchang007]

I don't know, but I think $500 wouldn't be too bad of a price for the top model.

yeah, which should push the low end to $400, putting it at an even price with the 360. and considering the ps3 has a blu ray player, there would be no doubt about which one to get.