| haxxiy said: Cost reduction is definitely still doable this gen. Assuming the APUs are 300 mm2 on 7nm and 100 mm2 on 3 nm, that's the difference between 160 vs. 550 dies per wafer. More than enough to compensate for the shrink even with the cost per wafer doubling (to the tune of ~ $25 saved per APU). |
It's not that there will be no cost reductions, it's just that they're reportedly anticipated to become comparatively meagre over time. For example, Microsoft said of the 360:
"Series S has been very impactful for us. As we design our new consoles for the new generation, we're very much looking forward through the generation to be thinking ahead - like, how does this work? - and that's why we got to two consoles at the same time," Goossen continued. "We are facing a big change in how consoles are designed. I believe when we first started building the original Xbox 360 - the smallest one without the HDD - that cost us about $460. By the end of the generation it cost us around $120 - and that cost reduction path was driven principally by silicon cost reduction."
We didn't see anything that major last gen, and they're predicting even less this gen.
