Sony Considers Outsourcing Cell Production

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.

Comments

Yeah well

[Lithdren]

If they want to drop the price, knock off this silly blue-ray stuff. Cut the cost of the system in half right there!

On a more realistic note, anything to up their production efficency right now would be a good thing. There's a serious shortage of these systems, dispite the price. Though I seem to recall, it has more to do with blue-ray then the processor, so unsure how this will help anything but their bottom line.

Re:Yeah well

[feepness]

Dude, haven't you heard? There's no PS3 shortage [penny-arcade.com].

I like Penny Arcade and all too but that kind of bugged me. A couple systems on the shelf is not particularly abundant and then you clicked over to the comments section and there is a big ad for all their shit for sale on Xbox Live Marketplace.

Hmmm, something's fishy here.

Man Overboard..

[glowingsnowball]

I think Sonys a sinking ship. After the whole PS3 flop coupled with the PSP flop and I won't even attack the whole battery situation. This seems like a last ditch desperation move. If sonys around in 10 years I'll be surprised. When the gamecube flopped gameboy and its many different variations pulled it through.Sonys cash cow doesn't exist. Sony had more negative hype at release then any console ever. The release titles were tragicly bad exculding Resistance Fall of Man. Gameplay pwns HD.