Sony to sell PS3 chip lines to rival Toshiba!

[galz]

TOKYO (AFP) - Sony Corp said Thursday that it had agreed to sell its production facilities for the powerful computer chip at the heart of its struggling PlayStation 3 game console to rival Toshiba Corp.
"The problem for the PlayStation 3 is that the production cost is too high," said Tatsuya Mizuno, an analyst at Fitch Ratings.
"It is difficult to maintain a high price because of the competition. That means it is difficult for them to get an adequate return on their investment."
Sony will also sell Toshiba its operations for the RSX graphic processor used in the PS3.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5...i3WqQVcOOCUaWw

[bhampton]

Hi,

I read about this on a few other sites and thought I would suggest what I think is behind this...

Toshiba needs an exit strategy from the failing HD DUD format and this move works for both companies. Sony has built up Blu Ray and can move forward with that and now Toshiba can abandon HD DUD and still benifit from Blu Ray's success because the Cell processor powers the biggest selling Blu Ray player to date, the Ps3.

I imagine lots of promotions to try to pass off the inventory of HD DUD hardware and software into the hands of the public will have the DUD-ers jumping for joy without then even realizing a major effort has begun to try to not be left holding the bag.

Anyway,.. my thoughts on the subject,.. what's yours.

-Brian

[TauRus]

Brian, I believe this was a rumour that was officially dismissed by Sony. Or perhaps they indeed had talked about it with Toshiba but never came to agreement. Anyways, its old news.

[Zazou]

Not old news anymore. It's now official :

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/071017/japan_sony_toshiba.html

Lee

[bhampton]

Hey,

Don't you think that when they make the best selling Blu Ray player ever they would consider dumping the failing HD DUD format?

If I was building the best selling Blu Ray player ever and also had a bunch of resources tied into a clearly failing format,.. I know what I would do but that's just me.

-Brian

[PaulGo]

Thursday, October 18, 2007
Sony, Toshiba Work Together on New 45nm Chips For PS3

Sony and Toshiba announced today the establisment of a new company that will take over the development of the new "Cell" and "RSX" chips for the Playstation 3.

Sony announced that it plans to sell to Toshiba its "Cell" microprocessor output facility in Nagasaki prefecture and "RSX" graphic chip production line in Oita prefecture, both in western Japan, by March 2008.

The 300mm wafer line currently produces the Cell using a 65-nanometer process technology but under Toshiba's ownership will be transitioned to the advanced 45-nm process. Towards this effort, IBM and Sony have signed an agreement to extend their existing manufacturing relationship to 45-nanometer silicon-on-insulator (SOI) for high volume production of the Cell Broadband Engine (Cell/B.E.) processor.

"This collaboration will allow Toshiba to expand and enhance its system LSI business by increasing order volume and securing regular orders of high-performance semiconductors for PlayStation, while Sony Group will aim for the further growth of the PlayStation business by achieving process migration of high-performance semiconductors," the companies said in a joint statement.

The announcement confirms the recent reports about a possible JV between the two companies. Toshiba said that it will hold the 60% of the new company, while Sony wil have the 20% and SCEI the remaining 20%. The name of the new company has not yet been decided. Financial terms weren't disclosed.

Sony, which is in the final year of its three-year turnaround plan under Chief Executive Howard Stringer, said in February it will cut back on future chip spending and may not produce next-generation microchips using 45-nanometre circuitry in-house.
http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/News...x?NewsId=21654

[SS316SRV]

Hasn't there been a lot of other threads about this?

Good idea though, Toshiba starting to dabble in blu-ray, allowing them to abandon HD DVD. Toshiba won't ever abandon HD DVD though. It is their baby, they put $1,000,000,000,000,000 (or something close to that) on the format. They are not giving up their baby.

[ps3andlovinit]

Originally Posted by bhampton

Hi,

I read about this on a few other sites and thought I would suggest what I think is behind this...

Toshiba needs an exit strategy from the failing HD DUD format and this move works for both companies. Sony has built up Blu Ray and can move forward with that and now Toshiba can abandon HD DUD and still benifit from Blu Ray's success because the Cell processor powers the biggest selling Blu Ray player to date, the Ps3.

I imagine lots of promotions to try to pass off the inventory of HD DUD hardware and software into the hands of the public will have the DUD-ers jumping for joy without then even realizing a major effort has begun to try to not be left holding the bag.

Anyway,.. my thoughts on the subject,.. what's yours.

-Brian

It looks like the same kind of deal they have with Samsung around LCD panels. Samsung invests in the mfg facilities and they both own the joint venture.