SCE readies "cell" chip plants, says it will begin production earlier than previously stated.
Sony announced today that it will be investing 120 billion yen ($1.14 billion) towards prepping production facilities to mass produce its next-generation microprocessor. This will be their second capital investment allocated toward these facilities, following a substantial investment made last year. Almost half of the investment will be spent on Sony Computer Entertainment"s production line in Nagasaki, Japan. The factory is dedicated to creating chips such as the "cell" chip, which adopt a 65-nanometer processing technology on 300-millimeter silicon wafers. About $340 million will be invested in IBM"s factory located in New York. That factory will be dedicated to the same microprocessor production as SCE"s line in Japan. Known to be the microprocessor chip that Sony intends to use in the next PlayStation iteration, the "cell" chip and attendant technology has been under development by Sony, IBM, and Toshiba since the spring of 2001.