AMD’s Semi-Custom SoC Designs Point To Three New Console Hardware Launches

Bringing even more credibility to the possibility of mid-generation hardware refreshes for both the Xbox One and the PS4, AMD has announced that they’ve had design wins for 3 semi-custom SoCs, set to bring the ailing firm a substantial amount of revenue over the next three to four years.

Many of AMD’s core businesses have been floundering—As of Q3 2015, Nvidia’s acquired over an 80 percent share in the discrete graphics card market—Intel’s leading AMD by a similar margin in the desktop processor market. Volume production of semi-custom chips for the PS4 and Xbox One is one of the few revenue centres for Team Red, although the low profit margins here mean that the money is spread thin indeed.

Reports on the new design wins come straight from AMD’s CEO Lisa Su during the company’s recent quarterly financial conference call and are a strong indication that new console hardware is on the horizon—Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft have all used semi-custom designs from AMD for their eighth-gen consoles, and the three new SoCs announced here are likely to be at the heart of the NX, PS4 Neo and the rumoured Xbox One refresh. Major retailer Gamestop also added fuel to the fire by speaking about the “imminent” launch of new consoles at an investor conference.

What do you think about mid-cycle console refreshes? Let us know.