CellProcessor
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Shipment numbers for PS3 may be cut in half
This relates to an article over at Joystiq about blue laser diodes. While they say Sony was trying to scrape up all the blue laser doodads to hit their 4 million PS3 mark by year end, it's looking very, very grim. In fact, the Taiwanese and Chinese branches of building the PS3 are trying to tell Sony "hey man, we can only get 2 million units by year end... we're running out of these blue laser diodes and cell processors!" Yet Sony, well, Kaz Hirai, still insist they'll hit the 4 million mark. It's a rough world when the volume production is still in the air so close to launch.Will there be shortages? It is looking more likely but it's not such a big deal -- shortages are practically part of the buying experience for a new console. Maybe it shouldn't be, but it is. So then, for those of us who preordered a PS3, did you preorder the 20 or 60 gig model? And if there are dangerous shortages, would you consider eBaying your shiny new device to make a small profit and wait a month or two for the second round of consoles? Those first off the line generally have an error or two anyway...
PS3 is weighed and judged by Joystiq
While the original article can be found at the Associated Content site, our pals at Joystiq have summed up the pros and cons of the PS3 in such an easy to peruse way. This list will highlight the most important, albeit opinionated, pros and cons. Feel free to check out the original or Joystiq's for this game of internet telephone.Pros: Backwards compatibility Standard hard-drives Web browsing Cell processor potential Cons (roll your eyes now): Cost No more rumble feature Game prices may be high The other cons seem to be there simply to make the list in comparable length to the pros. System size? Ken Kutaragi? Okay, but they seem fairly... lame. Who cares if a system is larger than a lunchbox (GameCube)? Ken Kutaragi isn't going to be popping out of our PS3's anytime soon, so he shouldn't be mentioned. He may be a concern to developers, but not us. He's a source of humor and silliness. What of Blu-ray? Well, the storage size doesn't quite seem necessary and it's expensive, but judging something before we can actually see results is unfair. So it's been left off of this condensed list. Same with the online service. Since none of us have been able to utilize it, we can't rightfully say anything about it. Make of it what you will.[via Joystiq]
PS3 to make or break Sony forevermore
More recycled analysis brought to you by Bloomberg. A key point to keep in mind: Sony predicts a 5-year recoup for losses due to the PS3's manufacturing costs and price point. That's going to hurt, especially since the average console life is around five years (a few exceptions noted). Masafumi Oshiden, from Merrill-Lynch, said "PlayStation 3 will be a huge money loser in the beginning." Spoken adequately enough. It's true -- we all know it's going to be very hard for Sony. Estimates show that about 200 billion yen was invested into the development of the cell processor alone.Another point to keep in mind is the notion that "Sony's PlayStation 3 introduction in November may be hampered by fewer and less-powerful games because the company hasn't given final technical details of the new console, according to video-game publishers." So, is delivering 10,000 dev kits not going to cut it? Will IBM be able to pull better yields for the cell processor in time for the PS3 launch? If not, Sony won't even have the chance to recoup in five years -- they may pull the plug sooner than that, unless we give them our support.
IBM says Cell processor coming along fine
Remember a while back when we reported that cell processors weren't being produced very satisfactorily? Well, according to an article at the Inquirer, IBM executives are now claiming cell processor yields are on or above their targeted average yield. Good thing, too. No one wants to send their newly bought PS3 back to the manufacturer for repairs or end up with a defective system. Happens to every system (red circle of death (360), disc read error (PS2)) except GameCube, really. Has anyone had trouble with their 'Cube? ...Does anyone have a 'Cube? Why not? It's a great non-online party system. Nothing beats a round of Super Smash Bros. Melee.Getting back on track, IBM released statements that translated somewhere along the line as "yields for a large, complex part like the Cell are expected to be low at the start of production and improve steadily thereafter". So the bad yield rumor reported earlier was indeed true and accurate, but not unexpected by IBM. We may want to try to steer clear from the Asustek manufactured PS3's though, since they have connections with the cell processors with lower yields. Might be difficult, with 4 million units on their way to Sony. Still, Sony has said they only use the highest yield processors created, so perhaps the junky ones are in a landfill, next to the E.T. game for the Atari 2600.
Cell Processor abilities may be luck of the draw
In a recent interview at DailyTech, they sat down with IBM vice president of Semiconductor and Technology Services Tom Reeves. He discussed the abilities of the cell processor and, more importantly, the inability to successfully create many working 8-core units. The cell processor is so complex that "IBM even accepts chips that have only four out of the eight cores working." Egads! Hopefully those aren't going into our PS3's, right? No worries. However...Sony won't allow cell processors with less than seven working cores. But they aren't clear when it comes to using seven or eight. Will it be a throw of the dice when we buy a PS3 as to whether we have a working 8-core processor or one with only 7 working bits? Would making the lower SKU accept the 7-core be any better? If that seventh one shorts out and you had the PS3 with only seven working cores, you have to send it back to Sony or IBM or Toshiba to get it fixed. That's a pain and it depends on your warranty. No matter what, they need to get these things working because November is pretty close.
