Good news for PS3 launch supply
According to Warren Communications News, William Zeitler, Senior Vice President of IBM’s Systems & Technology Group, told a news conference yesterday that "yield learning" on the Cell processor that forms the core of Sony's PlayStation 3 console has been "faster than on any chip we’ve done." In English, that means that IBM is learning quickly how to produce more working Cell processors per batch of chips they cook up. This bodes well for supply of this critical component if factories contracted by Sony to produce components for the PS3 are able to crank out lots and lots of Cell processors in record time once the PS3 heads into full production.
This doesn't necessarily mean that the PS3 won't be scarce at launch, though. Consoles are made of many components. A shortage of any single component can disrupt an entire plan, as Microsoft learned during the launch of the Xbox 360. Plus, IBM's Zeitler notes that the company was able to ramp up their production of Xbox 360 parts quickly as well. What this tells us is that if the PS3 is delayed or is hard to come by, it probably won't be IBM's fault.
