Microsoft announced that it has entered into a semiconductor technology agreement with IBM Corp. Under the agreement, Microsoft has licensed leading-edge semiconductor processor technology from IBM for use in future Xbox products and services to be announced at a later date.
Microsoft is already developing the software and services that will drive the Digital Decade, said Robbie Bach, senior vice president of the Home & Entertainment Division at Microsoft. By combining our vision, software experience and R&D resources with IBM's computer and semiconductor technologies, we plan to deliver unprecedented and unparalleled entertainment experiences to consumers while creating new engines of growth for the technology and entertainment industries.
According to Bernie Meyerson, IBM Fellow and chief technologist for IBM's Technology Group, the new Xbox technologies will be based on the latest in IBM's family of state-of-the-art processors.
IBM's advanced chip technologies are in demand across a wide range of industries and applications, Meyerson said. We're excited to be working on a project of this magnitude and that Microsoft has chosen IBM to provide technologies that will power future consumer devices and expand the boundaries of what's possible in entertainment.
Intel supplied the chip for Microsoft's current XBox console and had landed the deal after a long and bitter fight with rivals, AMD. Considering that Intel considers Microsoft as its systems design partner, there must be a few surprised faces at the company's HQ in Santa Clara today.
Although Intel and AMD seem to have gained control of the PC market, IBM has a growing clientele and is the power behind the Apple computers and Nintendo's GameCube. With a new plant in New York the IBM seems to be going from strength to strength and the sheer magnitude of this deal is guaranteed to further strengthen their processor business.
According to current MS roadmaps, the next XBox will be announced in January 2004 and should be available by late fall of the same year.
