Page 1 of 1
The real winner of the console war[IBM]
Posted: 2006-11-24 02:33pm
by Ace Pace
Link
With Power chips in the Vole Xbox 360 and Wii and a Cell chip in the PS3, IBM is laughing all the way to the bank.
According to the Baltimore Sun, Biggish Blue is likely to sell $3.7 billion worth of chips and associated design services this year. Last year it made $2.9 billion and the year before "only" $2.5 billion.
This is not bad dosh considering that only a few years ago analysts thought that IBM was set to sell off its microelectronics division because the outfit was losing cash.
It is surprising to have such good figures in a year that IBM lost one of its bigger Power chip customers, Apple, which moved to Intel.
Posted: 2006-11-24 02:49pm
by Praxis
Maybe I should buy some IBM stock.
Posted: 2006-11-24 03:40pm
by Admiral Valdemar
Do that, and I guarantee AMD or Intel will make something to kill that stock off very quickly. Playing the technology market is a lot like Russian roulette. With an auto.
Good for IBM then. But I wouldn't rely on this forever. They might just piss off those they played and then they'll be in hot water when it comes to the next next-gen.
Posted: 2006-11-24 03:48pm
by Count Dooku
Ever since E3 2005, when the tech specs for the Xbox 360 and PS3 came out, I really wondered why Sony and Microsoft chose IBM to make their processors, instead of Intel or AMD. I'd bet that either of the two companies would be willing to sell a fairly top of the line processor for a decent price - I mean, it's not like they wouldn't be making millions of them....
Posted: 2006-11-25 03:34am
by Praxis
Admiral Valdemar wrote:Do that, and I guarantee AMD or Intel will make something to kill that stock off very quickly. Playing the technology market is a lot like Russian roulette. With an auto.
Good for IBM then. But I wouldn't rely on this forever. They might just piss off those they played and then they'll be in hot water when it comes to the next next-gen.
Regardless of what AMD or Intel do, there's no way Microsoft, Sony, or Nintendo can change chip manufacturers until their next systems come out in 4-5 years.
Posted: 2006-11-25 03:24pm
by Medic
Praxis wrote:Admiral Valdemar wrote:Do that, and I guarantee AMD or Intel will make something to kill that stock off very quickly. Playing the technology market is a lot like Russian roulette. With an auto.
Good for IBM then. But I wouldn't rely on this forever. They might just piss off those they played and then they'll be in hot water when it comes to the next next-gen.
Regardless of what AMD or Intel do, there's no way Microsoft, Sony, or Nintendo can change chip manufacturers until their next systems come out in 4-5 years.
But haven't you heard? PS3 has a Sony-expected shelf-life of a decade.
XSphere or whatever will replace the X360 will trump PS3 so bad if Sony sticks to that pipe-dream.
Posted: 2006-11-25 03:36pm
by Praxis
SPC Brungardt wrote:Praxis wrote:Admiral Valdemar wrote:Do that, and I guarantee AMD or Intel will make something to kill that stock off very quickly. Playing the technology market is a lot like Russian roulette. With an auto.
Good for IBM then. But I wouldn't rely on this forever. They might just piss off those they played and then they'll be in hot water when it comes to the next next-gen.
Regardless of what AMD or Intel do, there's no way Microsoft, Sony, or Nintendo can change chip manufacturers until their next systems come out in 4-5 years.
But haven't you heard? PS3 has a Sony-expected shelf-life of a decade.
XSphere or whatever will replace the X360 will trump PS3 so bad if Sony sticks to that pipe-dream.
The PS2 is supposed to have a ten year shelf life too. PS1 had a ten year shelf life.
PS4 will come out after five or six years, PS3 will still be supported for a few more after that.
Posted: 2006-11-25 04:39pm
by phongn
Count Dooku wrote:Ever since E3 2005, when the tech specs for the Xbox 360 and PS3 came out, I really wondered why Sony and Microsoft chose IBM to make their processors, instead of Intel or AMD. I'd bet that either of the two companies would be willing to sell a fairly top of the line processor for a decent price - I mean, it's not like they wouldn't be making millions of them....
Neither Intel or AMD do custom work, that's why. IBM does. And Microsoft got burned last time when they tried to have off-the-shelf components.
Admiral Valdemar wrote:Do that, and I guarantee AMD or Intel will make something to kill that stock off very quickly. Playing the technology market is a lot like Russian roulette. With an auto.
Not if you do your homework.
Good for IBM then. But I wouldn't rely on this forever. They might just piss off those they played and then they'll be in hot water when it comes to the next next-gen.
Fortunately, IBM does not rely on their semiconductor group for profit.
Posted: 2006-11-26 04:03am
by Praxis
Playing the technology market is a lot like Russian roulette. With an auto.
Well, as long as you don't go first...
