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Sony to Start PlayStation 3 Chip Tests Next Week – Report.

Category: Multimedia

by Anton Shilov

[ 04/21/2006 | 07:24 AM ]

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., the developer of Sony PlayStation game consoles, may start testing chip components for its gaming machine as soon as next week, according to reports from Taiwan. While it is unclear what exactly will be tested, the information may indicate that Sony begins to gear up for the PlayStation 3 manufacturing.

DigiTimes web-site reported citing Chinese-language Wealth Group report that King Yuan Electronics Company (KYEC), a firm that is focused on chip testing and assembly, would start landing Sony PlayStation 3 chip testing orders from the following week, and that those orders should help to boost the company’s revenues in the second quarter.

Sources at equipment makers reportedly stated that KYEC has already started testing engineering chipset samples for the PlayStation 3. While the King Yuan Electronics declined to comment on specific orders from particular clients it is known that the chip testing house also undertakes testing of the graphics processing unit (GPU) for the PlayStation Portable as well as the I/O controller for the Xbox 360.

Sony is expected to release its PlayStation 3 console in the U.S. by holiday season, however the scales of the release are not completely certain, as some analysts believe the PlayStation 3 game machine is too expensive to make and given that the consoles are usually sold for less than $500, well below the production costs initially, Sony may cut its losses by supplying less consoles initially.

According to Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.’s president, the company planned to produce 1 million PlayStation 3 units a month initially, for a total of 6 million units in the business year ending March 2007.

According to Merrill Lynch research company, the most expensive component of the PlayStation 3 will be its Blu-ray disk drive, which will initially cost $350. The second most expensive part of the gaming machine will be the Cell processor which will cost Sony “at least” $230 per unit to make. Nvidia’s RSX graphics processor will cost $70, while for 256MB of XDR memory as well as 256MB of GDDR3 memory Sony will have to pay $50, believes Merrily Lynch. In total, the price may reach $900 just to manufacture one PlayStation 3 console.

In three years time after launch the cost of manufacturing the PS3 can reach $320, believes the research firm. Merrill Lynch notes that the price of two most expensive components – the Cell processor and the Blu-ray optical drive – can tumble significantly already in 2007 when the microprocessor is shifted to 65nm production technology, while the Blu-ray drives reaches high-volume manufacturing.

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. did not comment on the news-story.