It is rumored that the Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft are all developing their next consoles. It is also speculated that three new SoC chips are being developed by AMD. Three rumored consoles, three new chips, is this just coincidence?
AMD had their Q1 2016 Earning call (located on CFO Commentary) last April 21, wherein the company executives gave an estimate of an additional 15 percent increase of revenue for Q2 for the year, plus-minus three percent, which will be coming from semi-custom and graphics products. It is estimated that these SoCs, system-on-chips, will bring in a total of about US$1.5 billion earnings within a span of three to four years.
ArsTechnica added that according to AMD's CEO, Lisa Su, the expected increase in business revenue will be coming from the gaming sector.
"If you think about the semi-custom business in the past few years, the third quarter is always the peak," Su said. "It will be the peak this year, as well, but we're starting some of the ramping in the second quarter as we build to the stronger third quarter."
However, Su didn't answer directly the question on who will be making these hardware purchases; she simply replied, "I don't believe we've gone through any detail about what those wins are. I'd prefer to let that come out as our customers are ready to launch."
Rumors going around the console community is that, the PlayStation Neo or 4K or 4.5, or whatever the name will be, might well be ready as early as October of this year. It is also rumored that the new PlayStation will be featuring upgraded internals that include the CPU, the GPU and RAM. The CPU clock speed will reportedly be bumped up to 2.1 GHz from 1.6 GHz, the GPU will include a newly designed AMD Polaris architecture graphics, while the memory will still remain at 8 GB but will be much faster than the previous component.
Another console that is rumored to be in the works is the highly anticipated Nintendo NX, said to be a 2-in-1 gaming machine. There is a base, which is the main console, and a controller that can also act up as a mobile gaming device. A launch is expected by 2017.
The third is -- and is also expected to be launched next year -- a slimmer version of the Xbox One, which might also come with a fresh new CPU and GPU.
All the information on the upcoming consoles are all hearsays. No official word has come out from the three companies.
