As any other company, Sony is looking to reduce the manufacturing costs of its products as much as possible. Considering the PS3, a cut in manufacturing costs is badly needed at this point, as it costs them over $850 to make a console. Sony is now looking to outsource the production of the Cell processor, which powers the PS3 and is one of the most expensive parts of the console. Sony boss Yataka Nakagawa said:

“When we first offered the PS2, there were no semiconductor companies that were able to make chips for the machine, so we did it ourselves. But now, there are companies that specialize in chip production.”

Sony spent $3.8 billion on chip design an manufacturing since April 2004, spending they are looking to cut significantly. Sony will soon begin producing the Cell ship using cheaper 65nm technology, and plan to use even smaller 45nm silicon in 2009.

Read (Reuters)