PlayStation 3 Gets 45 nm Chips

The PlayStation 3 has been plagued by bad news lately. The Sony made console has been hit hard by the price cut and re-design combo that Microsoft unveiled in September and November 2008 and it only managed to sell half of the numbers posted by the Xbox 360 in the critical month of December. Sony has also posted a big loss for 2008 and has committed to cutting a significant part of its staff, although the PlayStation division seems to be only marginally affected.

Now, Sony is trying to push back on the public relations front, showing which elements make the PlayStation 3 a better console that its current gen rivals. David Reeves, the president of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, has talked to The Guardian in the United Kingdom and painted a picture of a platform that would be steadily improving as 2009 draws to a close.

One of the most important statements he made was one related to hardware specifications for the PS3. He said that “We're always looking at ways to reduce costs, replacing the current 65 nanometre Cell chip with a 45 nanometre one probably in middle of year. But will it be anything as off-strategy as releasing a PS3 with a DVD rather than a Blu-ray drive? I doubt it.”

The change could be a very important one. On the one hand, it means that the manufacturing price for the console might be going down as 2009 progresses. On the other hand, the power consumed by the PlayStation 3 will be reduced, as will the heat it generates. The PS3 is already a much quieter machine than the Xbox 360 and this could prove an advantage, especially amongst the consumers who are thinking about using the console for something other than gaming, like watching movies.

This statement also lends some credibility to the projections of analysts who are saying that the PlayStation 3 will be getting a price cut, either in April or by the time E3 proceeds. We'll just have to wait and see how Sony plays its hand.