‘Sony expects to be able to make fewer PS5s due to chip problems’ – update
Sony expects to make 4 million PlayStation 5 consoles less this year than it initially planned, according to Bloomberg sources. The yield of the console’s soc would be disappointing.
Instead of 15 million consoles, Sony expects to be able to produce 11 million PlayStation 5 models in its current fiscal year, which ends in late March 2021. Bloomberg claims that based on information from people familiar with the planning. Sony would have placed a large number of orders with hardware suppliers in July, but have now run into production problems.
Among other things, the yield, the yield of functionally well-functioning chips, of the soc would be disappointing. Bloomberg is talking about an initial yield of only 50 percent, although yields would have gradually improved. However, the yield would still not be at a stable high level.
The PS5 contains an AMD soc with 8 custom Zen 2 cores with smt and a RDNA 2 GPU with 36 cu’s, which TSMC probably produces at 7nm. The cause of the yield problems is not known. TSMC has been making 7nm chips since 2018 and now has two improved node generations compared to N7 in production: N7 + and N7P. It is not known on which of these processes the PS5 socs are made.
It is also not known whether Microsoft is dealing with the same problems. Microsoft also uses an AMD-soc produced by TSMC for its Xbox Series, but with higher clock speeds for the CPU and more CPUs but lower clock speeds for the GPU. Starting September 22, Microsoft will be taking pre-orders for its next-gen console. The Xbox Series X and Series S will then release on November 10 for 500 and 300 euros respectively.
On Wednesday, Sony is holding a PlayStation 5 event where the company is likely to announce pricing and release date. Bloomberg analysts expect Sony to charge $ 449 for the PlayStation 5 and $ 400 for the thinner version without an optical drive. According to game analyst Daniel Ahmad Sony has booked 60 flights to the US for October to supply suppliers with enough PS5s. Transport by flight is more expensive than by ship, but of course faster.
Update, 21:12: Sony denies to GamesIndustry.biz that production numbers have adjusted since mass production started.