Bob Feldstein, who previously worked for AMD, has revealed the valuation of the Xbox One deal between AMD and Microsoft.
He is currently the VP of Technology Licensing at Nvidia and he says that the project is valued at over $3 billion. The amount should probably include all the expenses like design and should also cover the the costs for parts required to supply over the course of the system’s lifecycle.
In retrospect, Sony had spent $400 million on the Cell processor which was a joint project with Toshiba, so this has to be a multi-year deal with Microsoft.
On his LinkedIn account (membership required), he states that his â€involvement was focused on business management and supply agreement negotiations.â€
He also adds that, “AMD provided a custom silicon solution to Microsoft for the Xbox One, a game console and entertainment device.
“This required the coordination of multiple functional teams within AMD, as well as regular customer meetings with leadership teams responsible for handling the challenges of complex, muti-year deals. This project is valued at $3+B.â€
Sony and Nintendo have also used AMD parts in their consoles. Based on the Xbox One estimate, it looks like Sony and AMD may have struck a similar deal, and Sony uses a significantly powerful GPU in the PS4 compared to what’s in the Xbox One, so it’s hard to say exactly how much the deal must have cost.
One thing is for clear though, AMD will make a mark in the next console generation and they should be pleased with that.
