PlayStation 6 In Development As AMD Scores Chip Design Win Over Intel
Hot on the heels of Sony releasing its upgraded PlayStation 5 Pro console, there's some interesting chatter surrounding what comes next—the PlayStation 6, which will be a true next-generation game system rather than an iterative upgrade. The PS6 is apparently in development as you read this, and is likely to once again feature AMD hardware inside despite a reported attempt by Intel to usurp its chip rival.
At this point, it may seem like a foregone conclusion that AMD will power every major console release from Sony and Microsoft, but that isn't necessarily the case. According to a report by Reuters, AMD was engaged in a "competitive bidding" war or sorts to supply chips for Sony's next-gen console. It's mentioned that AMD and Intel "were the final two contenders," which raises the question of what other chip makers/designers made a run. Apparently Broadcom was in the mix, but it's not known what other firms made a run. Had things gone differently, perhaps we could have seen an Arm-based console, and/or one that is powered by NVIDIA's hardware.
Instead, Intel reportedly presented the biggest threat to AMD's reign in the high-powered console space. Part of what's interesting about Intel's supposed attempt to overthrow AMD are its recent struggles and rumors of a possible chip foundry split in an effort to find stable financial footing. In response to a "disappointing" quarter, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said "revenues have not grown as expected" and lamented costs as being "too high." Intel also announced a big round of layoffs—15,000 workers, or 15% of its global workforce—to navigate "tough days ahead."
Overthrowing AMD to score a PS6 chip supply contract would have been a major win for Intel, even though the profit margin is smaller than other segments, especially the data center. And therein lies the reason why Intel lost out—it's reported that the profit figures for each chip sold "blocked Intel from settling on the price with Sony," and ultimately paved the way for AMD to win the bidding process.
These discussions are said to have taken place back in 2022, with months of negotiations between Sony and Intel, and meetings with dozens of engineers and executives. Part of the discussions may have involved designing hardware that is backwards compatible.
"We strongly disagree with this characterization but are not going to comment about any current or potential customer conversations. We have a very healthy customer pipeline across both our product and foundry business, and we are squarely focused on innovating to meet their needs," Intel said in a statement in response to the report.
Regardless of how Sony's reported talks with Intel went down, it looks like AMD is secure in its position as the console chip supplier for several more years to come, at least in the PlayStation universe.
