Report: Sony Suppliers To Begin Testing PS3 Components

According to online reports from Taiwan, Sony's component suppliers are to begin testing chip components for the PlayStation 3 as early as next week, suggesting that the console is on schedule for a November worldwide release. IT news site DigiTimes has relayed a Chinese-language Wealth Group commentary that reports that testing and assembly firm King Yuan Electronic Company (KYEC) is planning to start testing unspecified PlayStation 3 components, with the high volume of orders for the work from Sony greatly boosting the company’s second quarter revenues. KYEC also manufactures the graphics processing unit (GPU) for the PSP and the I/O controller for the Xbox 360. However, the company would only confirm that its manufacturing of the GPU for the PSP handheld has already started, refusing to comment on other specifics which have not yet reached its financials. Despite concerns from analysts that the PlayStation 3 is both extremely complex and expensive to manufacture, Sony Computer Entertainment president and CEO Ken Kutaragi has previously stated that the company plans to produce one million units of the console a month from launch, with a total of six million planned for the company’s business year ending March 2007.