The not-so-good news for Sony and its Playstation 3 machine just keeps on coming. The latest is found via an interview with Tom Reeves, VP of semiconductor and technology services at IBM, conducted by Electronic News. In it, he reveals that the initial yields for the Cell chip, used in Sony’s forthcoming game machine, are currently between 10 to 20 percent. They’re hoping to improve that to 40% But in high-volume chip fabrication, that’s still an unsettlingly low number. The lower the yield (i.e. usuable chips on a silicon wafer), the more expensive the processor. Not good news for a consumer electronics device that already looks in danger of being priced out of a competitive range.
[Via CNet News]