The upcoming PlayStation 6 will again have a chip from AMD. Although Intel almost won the contract in 2022, it lost the tender due to a dispute over how much profit the company would make from each chip sold. This was reported by Reuters.
Sony consoles typically sell more than 100 million units over a decade and a half. Signing a contract with Sony would be a victory for Intel's design segment and a double victory for the company's contract manufacturing business.
Cooperation with Sony could help Intel's contract manufacturing business, which is currently struggling to find new large customers. According to two anonymous sources, a dispute over how much profit Intel would make from each chip sold to the Japanese electronics giant prevented Intel from agreeing on a price with Sony.
The discussions between Sony and Intel lasted for several months in 2022 and included meetings between the CEOs of the two companies, dozens of engineers and executives.
When designing console chips, they usually try to ensure compatibility with previous versions of the system so that users can run old games on new hardware. Switching from AMD, which produced the chip for the PlayStation 5, to Intel would jeopardize backward compatibility, which was a subject of discussion between engineers and executives at Intel and Sony, the sources said.
According to Intel's internal forecasts, Sony's console business could bring the company about $30 billion over the course of the contract.
A long-term contract with Sony would help attract new large customers for Intel's contract manufacturing as Intel continues to struggle to attract customers to its advanced 18A process, according to anonymous sources.