14 DAY TRIAL // AMD scored a big win this year, by enchanting Sony and Microsoft enough to get them to use its Jaguar processing cores in their PlayStation 4 and Xbox One game consoles.
There are concerns that these two consoles will not be as successful as their predecessors. Normally, this would imply that AMD would not make much money off them.
That's not the case though, or at least that's not the tune that financial analysts are singing.
Instead, it has been theorized that Advanced Micro Devices will make quite a bit of cash indeed, for the simple fact that its accelerated processing units are quite expensive.
Indeed, between eight x86 cores and Radeon HD graphics, they have enough processing and video performance to justify higher price tags.
And since the integration of features means Sony and Microsoft can save money they would have to pay for other components of the consoles, this is a win-win situation for everyone.
But especially for AMD, because it will make between $60 / €43-60 and $100 / €77 – 100 for every SoC thus sold.
“While console sell-through in 2014 is up for debate, we note that both the previous generation console systems (PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360) sold ~9 million in units in their first full calendar year,” said Hans Mosesmann, managing director, Raymond James Analyst.
“We suspect that competition from set-top boxes, streaming devices, and tablet/mobile gaming may pressure growth of console systems vs. prior years, but we still believe the installed base for next gen consoles is well into the double-digit millions. Our analysis assumes that this generation of consoles ramps up at 60% to 90% of the previous model, with average selling prices (ASPs) [per AMD APU] varying from $60 to $100. The mid-point of our analysis suggests a $1.06 billion contribution from consoles in 2014.”