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Sony PlayStation (Games) Hardware

Sony Considers Outsourcing Cell Production 70

Posted by Zonk 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.
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Sony Considers Outsourcing Cell Production More

Sony Considers Outsourcing Cell Production

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  • I'll do it (Score:1, Redundant)

    by Red Moose ( 31712 )
    I have some solder and a few old consoles. The games are the same old shit anyway. I'll lash together a C64 and a PSX, call it Cell and if Sony are as stupid as their marketing tactics suggest they are, they will buy it.

    I have no PS3, but I would like a canoe and to take up white water rafting instead.

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by bunions ( 970377 )

      I have no PS3, but I would like a canoe and to take up white water rafting instead.


      voted "Most Baffling Slashdot Comment of the Day", Feb 14 2007
      • I guess what he's saying is that he has better uses for the money...Or maybe that the aerodynamic styling of the PS3 would make it excellent for a white water canoe.

        Gotta be one or the other...
        • It's a bit of both really. The PS3 unit alone in Ireland will cost 630, which at todays spot rate is US$827. I don't know how much it actually costs in the US, but I bet it isn't near that. Therefore, Sony = wankers, as it's all built in the middle of Guandong province somewhere in China in all liklihood, and our sales tax is 21%, it still doesn't add up.

          So yeah, a canoe. I've always wanted one, seems pretty cool.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by suyashs ( 645036 )
            The 60 GB version costs $599, the 20 GB version $499...but the real kicker is that in Japan you can get the 20 GB for $320...
            • You have to be fucking kidding me. So basically they are ripping off everyone outside of Japan. I'll stick with the 360 then. Games are also bad, at 70-80 euros so around US$100 each, Sony can screw themselves.

              • Re: (Score:1)

                by KDR_11k ( 778916 )
                The 360 also costs much less in Japan (less than 300$ for the premium, IIRC). Same for the Wii but at least we're getting Wii Sports bundled with it. More expensive games are awful, it'ws not like 60€ isn't already more than the 50$ they charge in the US, why did they need to increase prices AGAIN?
    • I have no idea why, but this comment made me laugh.

  • 90/65nm? (Score:3)

    by MBCook ( 132727 ) <foobarsoft@foobarsoft.com> on Wednesday February 14, 2007 @01:03PM (#18014154) Homepage

    Can someone explain the 90/65nm thing to me? I don't ever remember hearing about a chip that was manufactured on two scales on one chip. Does this refer to some chips are current fabbed at 90nm and some at 65nm, or are they really hybrid where some of the circuits are at 90nm and some are at 65nm on the same die?

    The article doesn't contain much more than the summary, and does not explain this point.

  • The real sucess (Score:3, Interesting)

    by GiovanniZero ( 1006365 ) on Wednesday February 14, 2007 @01:10PM (#18014250) Homepage Journal
    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.

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by pionzypher ( 886253 )
      Wouldn't it be funny if Sony became a direct competitor to Intel and AMD? Next gen PCs could run on cell processors!
      That would be entertaining. I envision that Sony would claim within the first quarter that they had won the processor race, then move to introduce proprietary hardware based security- allowing only trusted devices to deal with "protected content". Then whatever mainstream OS out there would implement some sort of copy protection at the software level that would kee.. wait..... oh frack me.

  • For sure (Score:4, Funny)

    by Bullfish ( 858648 ) on Wednesday February 14, 2007 @01:16PM (#18014314)
    This will help them with their profits and make the PS3 more saleable, provided of course that people realize the Wii is just a fad and the 360 is never ever going to be as good as the PS3, regardless of its spiffy games like Gears of War.

    Just wait until next year!

    BTW: I am being sarcastic!
    • BTW: I am being sarcastic!

      I don't think everyone caught that. Next time, try making it bold. ;)
    • I know you're being sarcastic, but I wonder if the Wii is a fad. I have one and haven't played anything else since I got it. Perhaps I like it b/c I'm not a hardcore gamer anymore. I like the fact I can sit down and play for 20-30 minutes and feel like I had a good time. It's also fun to play. Graphics on consoles don't matter to me. I've always played computer games for high rez graphics. Only time will tell though.

      The ps3 has a lot more potential than the xbox360. I think the key question to ask i
      • Comment removed based on user account deletion

      • Re:For sure (Score:4, Insightful)

        by LWATCDR ( 28044 ) on Wednesday February 14, 2007 @03:40PM (#18016038) Homepage Journal
        "The ps3 has a lot more potential than the xbox360."
        I am not so sure about that anymore.
        The XBox360 is much easier to program than the PS/3. History is filled with lots of systems that in theory where very powerful but where too hard to program. The Intel 860 and the Itanium are two great examples. Some of the massively parallel super computers like the Thinking Machine where also a tough machine to get the most out of.
        There is potential and there is potential. If the programmer can't use it then it is useless.

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by LKM ( 227954 )
          I agree. I own neither a PS3 nor a 360 and have no intentions of getting either, but from what I've seen, I'm guessing the PS3's power will remain an unfulfilled promise. PS3 developers are all going on and on about how they're only using one processor, or only a fraction of the PS3's power, but there's a reson for that: Developing massively multithreaded applications is hard, and sometimes impossible. In theory, the PS3's processor may destroy the 360. In practice, it probably never will.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by ivan256 ( 17499 )
            I don't want to come of sounding like a fanboy for the PS3 (I don't own one, and have no current plans to buy one), but I can't help but point out that I've got the feeling I've read your comment before. When the PS2 came out people were saying the same thing, but the games that have come out over the last 10-12 months for the PS2 clearly show that wasn't the case.

            If the PS3 gains enough market share, developers will figure out how to wring every last drop of power out of the machine, and if it doesn't they

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by LKM ( 227954 )
              Dunno what you read when the PS2 came out, but I didn't write it. Yeah, the PS2 had a fucked up processor architecture compared to the other two consoles, but nothing even close to the idiocy of the Cell. Writing multithreaded apps is extremely hard. There are all kinds of things you have to keep in mind. I would guess that 99.9% of all programmers never write apps with more than two or three threads (and most of the time, these two threads are not doing the same amount of work, but one of them is doing a l

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by ivan256 ( 17499 )
                Writing multithreaded apps is extremely hard. There are all kinds of things you have to keep in mind. I would guess that 99.9% of all programmers never write apps with more than two or three threads (and most of the time, these two threads are not doing the same amount of work, but one of them is doing a lot more than the others), but now they're supposed to create games with 6 at least somewhat symmetrical threads. There's only so many ways you can parallelize any given application.

                Why are you under the im
        • Good point. Problem is that everything is moving towards multithreaded now. CPUs, GPUs, etc... are all moving in that direction. The ps3 may be hard to code for, but multithreading is here to stay and devs will have to get used to it. As far as the ps3 goes, eventually the tools, libraries, and documentation will make it bearable to work with.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by LWATCDR ( 28044 )
            Yes everything is going multithreaded but the Cell isn't your typical multithreaded system.
            I think the 360 has 3 cores each of which supports two threads for a grand total of 6 concurrent threads. The good thing about the 360 is all those threads are symmetrical.
            The Cell I think has one core and 7 "cells". The core and the Cells are very different from each other. It looks to me as if it will be a much more complex system to write code for.
            It isn't just that it is multithreaded but that it is asymmetric in
    • 47000 yet for 20gig ver in Japan ($520AU)

      $999 for 60gig in Australian.

      As if sony doesnt have their own boats they cannot use? hell use those Whale Ships!

  • Not News (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    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 [slashdot.org] was outsourced to a 3rd party overseas, and how great their [slashdot.org] programming [usatoday.com] turned out [eweek.com] to be. [slashdot.org]

    But when googling [google.com] 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

  • Oh great, now when I turn on my PS3 it will print on screen "Hello, my name is Joe, how can I help you today?"

    Damned outsourced chips, taking valuable processing away from hard-working American (Japanese?) chips!

    I kid, I kid!

  • Uh, Are People Actually Trying To Spin This? (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Company carries on with plans to cost reduce product components!

    Shocking!

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

  • The PS3 is going to change over revisions more so than the PS2 I'm willing to speculate. Those of us that wait for the PS3 to gain some success with better titles and more industry support and licensing will not only reap the benefits of a better price for the unit itself, but a better system design. Whether the cell processor is more efficient or newer, or better design to allow for airflow, or tweaks on the mobo or GPU, etc - you name it. It's worth waiting. Anyone that bought a first generation PS or PS2
    • Whether the cell processor is more efficient or newer, or better design to allow for airflow

      What do you think they're going to do? Drill holes in the fucking substrate to let the air through?

  • About Time (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Deluxe_247 ( 743837 )
    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 th
    • Wish there was an edit button.. I knew that number seemed off :)

      its not 500million (more like 8million$) to develop a PS3 game. Its 500,000 sales requied to turn a profit. My mistake, but it did make me go find the article.

      http://kotaku.com/gaming/ps3/namco-ps3-games-must- sell-500k-for-profit-218215.php

    • Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)

      by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Wednesday February 14, 2007 @03:07PM (#18015642)
      Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • You missed the point.. They won't get the games if they don't solve the problems I listed.

        Developers aren't going to create huge games for a platform that only has a 1million or so userbase. Instead they will take their hit games to other consoles like the 360 which have 10million, etc.

        That means if Sony want's exclusive games (which would sell the console as you suggest), they need to get their consoles out FIRST so 3rd party developers want to spend the time to develop on it.

        It's sort of like a "chicken

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by ivan256 ( 17499 )
          You missed the point.. They won't get the games if they don't solve the problems I listed.

          None of the problems you listed prevent them from getting games out for the machine.

          Third party developers having a hard time with the system is a potential speedbump, but well overblown and over reported. It's not a chicken and egg issue. It's purely about Sony business development closing deals. The PSP is actually a bigger problem for the PS3 than anything you listed.
      • 'd say that NONE of those matter. There is one, and only one, thing that is making the PS3 sales so low - the games. The only must-have game out right now is Resistance, and not everyone likes FPS games. Once they start getting some more games out, the sales will follow, regardless of price, regardless of online experience (which isn't bad considering it's free), etc.

        Online for Wii is free too. But, yes, the actual games do matter - when I actually see a review for more than three PS3 games that aren't rate

  • IBM? (Score:1)

    by Thalin ( 130318 )
    I thought IBM was already producing Cell processors? Why is Sony needing to outsource when they're not even doing the production work as it is?
  • Two firms, both on the decline, pushing tin nobody wants.
  • Shouldn't they first focus on selling the PS3 containing existing cell chips, instead of them rotting on shelves, like 3DO's?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Rallion ( 711805 )
      I think this IS related to the current (and increasing) oversupply. They can (and should, considering the costs involved) slow down their PS3 production, and ceasing internal production of Cell is part of that.

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