The new .10 micron chip, code-named "Cell," will run at "supercomputer speeds" thanks to massively parallel processing. It will be designed at IBM's lab in Austin, TX, and fabricated in IBM's East Fishkill, NY, plant, which the company is currently constructing. Production of the Cell chip is scheduled to begin in 2004. Sony said that the three companies will divide the $400 million investment roughly equally.
Toshiba designed and builds a portion of the processors used by the PS2, and its engineers will work with the engineers in IBM's Austin lab. Toshiba will also be able to bid on second-sourcing contracts to manufacture the chips.
