Several months ago, rumors started up that production had begun on the processor for Microsoft's next Xbox console. Now the same website that posted those rumors is reporting that the quality of the manufacturing yields for these chips is "painfully low" at this stage.
SemiAccurate states, via unnamed sources, that the processor for the next Xbox was actually designed by AMD and has the code name Oban. As far as the production of these chips, the story claims:
One of the things Microsoft seems to be trying is dual or triple sourcing the parts, hoping the elves at one foundry will fix things ahead of the rest. Even if none do, three chances of a breakthrough are better than one.
The article claims that Microsoft has put in some lead time for these kinds of problems. It says that if the next Xbox processor is supposed to start entering its full production run this year, the final date that a foundry can create a test wafer for the chip is November 1. If the founder goes over that time period, the launch date for the next Xbox could be delayed beyond what the article says is the planned launch of September 2013.
Source: SemiAccurate
33 Comments - Add comment