Rumor: Slim PS3 on the way?

[DieH@rd]

Today pictures of new "ps3 slim" with a new logo surfaced on the Chinese levelup site [and then traveled via 2CH to NeoGAF]. Here is everything:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=361611&page=4

For the new page, resized/rehosted:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/Wollan/PS3_Slim_2.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/Wollan/PS3_Slim_3.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/Wollan/PS3_Slim_4.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/Wollan/PS3_Slim_5.jpg

Other:

Original 60GB PS3 Motherboard, 180watt versus current 80GB, 110watt (which has 65nm CPU/GPU):
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y247/Wollan/60vs80.jpg


The standard workstations:

So:

1. Convincing, professional chassis mold
2. Logo changed from PLAYSTATION 3 to PS3 which is logical, not proof for/against though
3. Packaging image is not shopped (though the pack itself might be custom made)
4. IBM have had the 45nm Cell in production (since mid 2008 I believe?), we all know the story about the general downsizing of PS3 components and lower power needs
5. Pink/green work stations! (same as background)
6. Sony shipped 10m PS3's in fiscal year 07 and 08 each, they are now saying 13m for 09.

Also here is the current PS3 bluray drive, vs smaller laptop one
http://i.techrepublic.com.com/gallery/41937-500-375.jpg
http://i44.tinypic.com/s5k943.jpg


And then, that chinese site recieved this message:

3509 : Alex_Hsieh : 2009/05/14(木) 19:06:22 ID: - | E...case design... At least design is good [IMO].

 

[AlNom]

Keep in mind, you're only seeing the top half at an angle, but it does seem slightly thinner.

 

[DieH@rd]

Yeah, there is no bottom part on that first pic. If they want to go on uber cheap production, they will not put glass finish on the end.

Also, external power supply is an option.

 

[Graham]

There is also a picture of the back floating around. It seems to show the correct number of ports (HDMI, optical, sony and lan).

 

[slider]

It's just a feeling, given the actual launch date, but the slim (if real) has "come out" very quickly.

Hopefully more news at E3.

 

[tha_con]

We'll see a slim PS3 much sooner than we saw a Slim PS2.

I think we'll see a few changes in hardware first (chip size for CPU and GPU, motherboard overhaul, etc) before we see a slim unit.

Sony is going to make the current PS3 model as profitable as they can, before they release a Slim. I forsee some changes to hardware and a price drop hitting sometime between now and November (I know, huge gap, but that's something that is hard to predict). I'm thinking a $299 price point.

About 6 to 12 months after that, Sony will either release or announce a Slim PS3. I think CES would be a good time to do that.

After that, I don't see Sony reducing the price of the PS3 a lot, rather, as the hardware begins to get cheaper, we'll see revisions and multiple pack-ins. Even after the System has begun to get "old" we'll see a new iteration on it that is basically as "powerful" as the PS3, but will have significantly improved software functionality (OS based).

I don't think Sony is going to persue top of the line hardware with it's "next" console. It'll be as powerful, or slightly more powerful, than the PS3, with a huge focus on software services (online, movie rental, digital distribution, blah blah).

 

[DieH@rd]

^ so you think ps3 slim will start selling on hollydays 2010 mabye?



Sony UK PR: "We don't know anything about the system in the photos."
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=214986

As if they are gonna confess.

 

[tha_con]

I'd say yes, we'll see a Slim in 2010. It'll still be $299 though. Expect it to have features that the current PS3 does not though. Maybe better OS functionality, who knows.

One thing I do know for sure is that it'll have a big HDD in it. HDD prices bottom out, and it becomes more expensive to buy the bottom line. It'll be larger than 80, I almost want to say it'll be 160GB.

One thing I don't expect to see is two SKU's, but Sony could possibly do another SKU with a packin, larger HDD, headset, who knows.

I think the best move Sony can make with the system is bundle it with a free PSN game and a Headset. Get users online, they spend more money that way.

 

[JardeL]

By the way , all pics and stuff deleted from Chinese site ; [ http://bbs.levelup.cn/showtopic-803951.aspx ] ...

 

[suryad]

They already have 160 gb SKUs out dont they?

 

[obonicus]

They already have 160 gb SKUs out dont they?

Yep, I think it's the bundle SKU, you get Uncharted or something.

 

[tha_con]

They already have 160 gb SKUs out dont they?

They do, I'm just saying that the low end SKU will likely be 160GB, as Sony has done in the past (now making the 80GB SKu the low end model as prices on HDDs came down).

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Sony is going to make the current PS3 model as profitable as they can, before they release a Slim.

But a slim model with less stuff, cheaper PSU, etc. will be more profitable. So why drop the price of the current system and lose more money for 6-12 months, and then release a cheaper-to-make PS3 model at the same price? It'd be better to hold off the price drop to match with a production cost drop.

If a slim model is possible at this time, I think Sony will go with it, because they know they need to get the price down and a cheaper model would be part of that. The only reason not to is maturity of the current production lines, but given PS3's high cost, I think the transition ASAP is in order. And I expect two hardware case revisions instead of PS1 and 2's single slim case. PS3 is big and clunky. It could do with a diet between now and a proper mini version when the tech is suitably shrunk. It doesn't behoove the system to stay this size for the next few years IMO.

 

[tha_con]

But a slim model with less stuff, cheaper PSU, etc. will be more profitable. So why drop the price of the current system and lose more money for 6-12 months, and then release a cheaper-to-make PS3 model at the same price? It'd be better to hold off the price drop to match with a production cost drop.

If a slim model is possible at this time, I think Sony will go with it, because they know they need to get the price down and a cheaper model would be part of that. The only reason not to is maturity of the current production lines, but given PS3's high cost, I think the transition ASAP is in order. And I expect two hardware case revisions instead of PS1 and 2's single slim case. PS3 is big and clunky. It could do with a diet between now and a proper mini version when the tech is suitably shrunk. It doesn't behoove the system to stay this size for the next few years IMO.

Well, anything is possible

I think a Slim is still a year to 18 months away for mutliple reasons, one being the retooling of the factories, new chipsets, etc.

I think Sony will start putting in the new chipsets into old units (not slim) before they start making slim units...if that makes any sense?

I guess I'm saying I think that the production costs of the current models will come down further before the Slim is ready to be introduced.

 

[Entropy]

But a slim model with less stuff, cheaper PSU, etc. will be more profitable. So why drop the price of the current system and lose more money for 6-12 months, and then release a cheaper-to-make PS3 model at the same price? It'd be better to hold off the price drop to match with a production cost drop.

If a slim model is possible at this time, I think Sony will go with it, because they know they need to get the price down and a cheaper model would be part of that. The only reason not to is maturity of the current production lines, but given PS3's high cost, I think the transition ASAP is in order. And I expect two hardware case revisions instead of PS1 and 2's single slim case. PS3 is big and clunky. It could do with a diet between now and a proper mini version when the tech is suitably shrunk. It doesn't behoove the system to stay this size for the next few years IMO.

There might be another reason to keep selling the current model, and that is if they are sitting on a large stockpile of components (or corresponding contractual obligations to suppliers) that couldn't be used in a slim PS3 for thermal reasons. Other than that, I think your reasoning is perfectly sound, and since the PS3 volumes have been rather predictable, I can't really see why this should be the case. I merely point out the possibility.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

A true slim is a long way off. PS2Slim didn't appear until the chips were consolidated. We'd need 45nm to get that in PS3. However, a shrink is definitely possible. A switch to 65nm both cores, now in production, means less heat etc. Looking at the original PS3, it included a mammoth heatsink and a PSU that was a 'thing of beauty'. Switch to a smaller heatsink and PSU, and you don't need all that case space. The latest mobo's show quite a reduction from the original. So the case is in reality far too big for the current size of the gubbins that fill it. Knock 20% off all dimensions and you'll end up with something a little less obtrusive and cheaper to make. Sony could also go a bit cheap on materials, which would be a travesty as the PS3 quality is great, but if they're penny pinching, they'd get away with that.

 

[DuckThor Evil]

But a slim model with less stuff, cheaper PSU, etc. will be more profitable. So why drop the price of the current system and lose more money for 6-12 months, and then release a cheaper-to-make PS3 model at the same price? It'd be better to hold off the price drop to match with a production cost drop.

If a slim model is possible at this time, I think Sony will go with it, because they know they need to get the price down and a cheaper model would be part of that.

Exactly. If Sony has the PSthree close to being released, it would be wise for them release it as soon as possible and maybe to sell it with the current price tag for a short while as a new unit will most certainly gather some initial interest even with a 399$ price tag and with lower production costs they could actually make a decent buck. Then it would be easy for them to drop the price relatively soon to 299$ and see the demand rise.

 

[Crossbar]

A true slim is a long way off. PS2Slim didn't appear until the chips were consolidated. We'd need 45nm to get that in PS3. However, a shrink is definitely possible. A switch to 65nm both cores, now in production, means less heat etc. ...

The 45 nm Cell has likely been in production for some time now so it is definitely going in to this new model. The main focus of the 45 nm shrink was to cut the power draw so if they were successful in doing that a slim model is very possible.

I didn´t expect one this early though, but Sony probably needs to cut the costs as possible to become more competetive.

 

[-tkf-]

At least it would explain why they didn´t have any rush to loose more money on the current PS3.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

45nm Cell was supposed to appear this year, but you'll want everything reduced to get a real PS3Slim. And I don't think from 90nm to 45nm is as great a reduction and PS1 and PS2 went through before a true slim model, though I can't recall how many lithography generations they had to go through to get there.

Best case, 45nm is enough to get both dies small enough as separate chips on a small mobo, but I think that extremely unlikely. PS3 was supposed to launch at 65nm, so that'd be only one generation from launch scale to mini-size, and that's before the realisation that improvements from one size to the next weren't as high as we could have hoped! I dare say a new PS3 would in fact be more the intended launch product if 65nm had been available; not 'PS3Small' to the original 'PS3', but a true 'PS3' to what we have now as a 'PS3Fatty' - an oversized fix to a thermodynamic problem Sony hadn't expected.