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Sony Considers Outsourcing Cell Production

Posted by Zonk on from the get-on-up-get-on-out dept.

Gamasutra reports on comments from the Sony home office, where executives are considering plans to outsource production of the expensive/complicated Cell chips that power the PS3. Executive deputy president Yutaka Nakagawa is quoted in a Reuters report, saying that when the PS2 launched there just weren't other companies to turn to. With the chip market better-developed in 2007, there are third parties Sony is now considering to take on the task of advancing/producing the Cell. Outsourcing could also help financially with their beleaguered semiconductor division. The next move for the Cell is to 45 nanometer manufacturing, from the 90/65 the company is currently using. This scale change could not only help with profits, but may eventually make dropping the price on the PlayStation 3 an easier pill to swallow.

4 of 70 comments (clear)

  1. The real sucess by GiovanniZero · · Score: 3, Interesting
    It remains to be seen whether or not the PS3 will catch on or not but the really success for sony may be the cell processor it self. It's been seeing use out side of gaming almost as much as it has in.

    Wouldn't it be funny if Sony became a direct competitor to Intel and AMD? Next gen PCs could run on cell processors!

    I don't really care as long as something gets us out of the x86 rut.

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  2. Not News by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Because that's what Sony does best, ehh??

    But seriously though, I was just going to post an asinine comment about how the Sony Rootkit was outsourced to a 3rd party overseas, and how great their programming turned out to be.

    But when googling for some 'sony outsourcing' links, it looks like this isn't news:

    The Outsourcing Weblog: Sony Considers Outsourcing PSP Production

    The Outsourcing Weblog: New Sony CEO Could Mean More Outsourcing

    Sony Ericsson moving part of R&D program to India?

    Sony outsources IT development to India

    Sony Europe signs up with Indian outsourcer

    Sony Will Outsource Some [Battery] Replacements

    Sony to outsource notebooks to Taiwan

    And that's literly just the first 3 pages.

  3. Uh, Are People Actually Trying To Spin This? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Company carries on with plans to cost reduce product components!

    Shocking!

    Console news on Slashdot has turned from bad to outright comical.

  4. About Time by Deluxe_247 · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Looks like Sony is finally getting their heads out of their cracks.

    Salvaging the system should be their first priority. When I say salvage I don't mean beacuse it's already a failure, but in the sense that the overall 'market buzz' of the console is overwhelmingly negative. Sony needs to really reshape its console in order for it to be successful and shake off the rediculous problems that the HR department (and initial design decisions) have been causing them.

    Problems to solve, in order of priority for the company:
    1) Get the COST of the console DOWN.
    2) Fix the BluRay manufacturing woes.
    3) Help their 3rd party developers to understand the CELL processor and sucessfully develop on the platform.
    4) Match the XBOX LIVE online experience.

    This is my opinion of course, but outsourcing the CELL processor will be a step in the right direction for #1. Without lowering the price of the console, the sales and demand for the console just aren't going to be there... Then again, #2 will prevent them from meeting the demand anyways, so you can probably interchange those top 2 in terms of importance.

    Without a broad market exposure, the investment required to develop a high quality game on the platform isn't viable for most studios. I forget who it was, but in a 3rd party interview on the subject of PS3 development an estimate was given to the amount of 500$million per game of the complexity of the CELL processor.. (Im not looking up the interview but it was posted here on SlashDot I believe.)

    So once Sony handles the price and production woes, keeping their developers happy so that they a) continue to develop on the platform and b) ensure a healthy and broad diversity of available games to play will go a long way in making the PS3 "successful."

    #4 is more of hearsay, as I have been told (I do not own a PS3) that the online experience is a 'first hash' type of thing and falls short in many respects to XBOX Live service.

    Anyways - even speculation of this sort is a good thing - instead of a typical "screw price, you are all sheep and will pay what we tell you to pay!"

    Take it with a grain of salt, because that's what my opinion is worth on the internets! (or maybe less...)

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    Its Deluxe, son. Deluxe!