IC Insights recently released its September Update to the 2020 McClean Report that presented the second of a two-part analysis on the global IC foundry industry and included a look at the pure-play foundry market by region.

China was responsible for essentially all of the total pure-play foundry market increase in 2018. In 2019, the U.S./China trade war slowed China's economic growth but its foundry marketshare still increased by two percentage points to 21%. Moreover, despite the Covid-19 shutdown of China's economy earlier this year, China's share of the pure-play foundry market is forecast to be 22% in 2020, 17 percentage points greater than it registered in 2010 (Figure 1).

Sony has decided to post a teardown video of its latest, upcoming PlayStation 5 console. The video shows how to disassemble the console and what is inside it. The new console features a different design from the previous generation, and thus a different internal layout. What is perhaps the most exciting thing shown in the video is the new cooling solution Sony implements. The new design uses some pretty interesting solutions that combine good airflow generated by 120 mm wide, 45 mm thick blower fan cooling the vapor chamber heatsink. Under the heatsink, the silicon company has made is running at high clocks and is said to generate a lot of heat, so to manage it, the console uses liquid metal thermal interface material (TIM) instead of regular thermal paste for heat transfer. Combined with good airflow and good heatsink, heat management shouldn't be a problem on this console.

Sony yesterday at its PlayStation Showcase finally revealed pricing and exclusive launch titles for their PS5 console. First things first: the PS5 will be launching in two version, as we've known for a while, with different pricing according to the console version you choose. The "vanilla" PS5 which includes a 4K Bluray disc drive will be going for $499; its price-reduced cousin, the PS5 Digital Edition, forgoes the 4K Bluray disc drive to deliver a $399 pricing.

Alongside pricing details, Sony also announced the PS5 exclusive games we can count on the consoles' launch, which is set for November 12th. These include Astro's Playroom (Japan Studio), which will be pre-installed on the PS5 and is thus a free game; the highly-awaited next-gen version of Demon's Souls (Bluepoint Games / Japan Studio) - $69.99; Destruction All Stars (Lucid Games / XDEV) - $69.99; Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales - $49.99; Marvel's Spider-Man: Mile Morales Ultimate Edition - $69.99; and Sackboy A Big Adventure (Sumo Digital / XDEV) - $59.99.

It's rare when a company actually responds to rumors with more than a simple "we don't comment on speculations"; however, Sony has done just that in regards to purported reduced supply of PS5 consoles on launch. There are some likely reasons for this move from Sony; for one, the rapid uptake on mainstream media following the initial Bloomberg report may have garnered a little too much attention for comfort. Consider the fact that Sony's share price fell some 3.5% following the report, however, and you can see how these rumors may have forced the company's hand to stem the bleeding.

Sony quells this rumor with extreme prejudice, too. According to the company, speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, "While we do not release details related to manufacturing, the information provided by Bloomberg is false. We have not changed the production number for PlayStation 5 since the start of mass production." That should settle things - and mean there will be 4 million more PS5s up for grab out there at launch. It was, in any event, strange that the chip inside the PS5 was having such troubling 50% yield number as was advanced by the Bloomberg report; we know that Ryzen itself has been designed by AMD with manufacturing yields and cost-reduction in mind for some time, now.

Today we have found out that Sony has reportedly cut PlayStation 5 launch supply due to bad yields of the SoC powering the console. Previously, we reported that Sony has doubled production of the new console amid high demand, where the company expected to sell 10 million units in the fiscal year. The original plan was to have around 15 million units of the new console available by March 31st, 2021. Sony has been spending a lot of resources to get as many units out to consumers, however, the bad SoC yields have held the company back significantly.

It is reported by Bloomberg that instead of the original 15 million units Sony plans to supply, there will be only 11 million of them. That represents a massive reduction of 4 million units. And you are wondering how bad the yields of the new SoC are to have that big reduction. According to the source, TSMC and Sony are seeing only 50% yields on the production run. It is reported that the yields are gradually improving but have not yet reached the level needed to have a stable supply. This represents a big problem for the company and we don't know who is to blame. TSMC has been very good at manufacturing 7 nm silicon, however, it could be bad design from AMD and Sony that is making the production difficult. We are waiting for more information.

Sony surprised many when they announced plans to bring Horizon Zero Dawn to PC earlier this year as it was a major first-party exclusive released for the PlayStation 4. While Microsoft has consistently been bringing first-party titles to PC, Sony had been keeping their major titles PlayStation exclusives. In Sony's latest financial report they confirm their intentions to bring further exclusives to PC to improve profitability. What games Sony plan to bring to PC is currently unknown but may well be older PlayStation 4 titles which have dwindling console sales.

SonyWe will explore expanding our 1st party titles to the PC platform, in order to promote further growth in our profitability.

Sony has recently launched PlayStation 5 pre-order registrations on the PlayStation website, without pricing or launch date information. To register for the pre-order queue you simply need to submit your PlayStation Network ID and ensure your email is associated with the account. This registration is simply for a pre-order slot for the PlayStation 5 from the Sony online store and not an actual pre-order. If selected you'll have a limited amount of time to complete your order, you may purchase one PlayStation 5 or PlayStation 5 Digital Edition along with up to 2 controllers. This early registration is only available to US residents with global availability expected later this year when the console is officially launched.

Sony today announced the WH-1000XM4, the 4th generation over-ear wireless noise cancelling headphones in Sony's award-winning 1000X family. The latest headphones offer all the much-loved technology from the hugely popular WH-1000XM3, with additional intelligent features that allow you to personalise and control your music, improve noise cancellation and adjust ambient sound automatically based on your preferences for a superior sound experience.

Whether you're flying long haul or relaxing in a café, the WH-1000XM4 headphones deliver Sony's best ever noise cancelling performance, reducing high and mid frequency sounds. With two microphones on each earcup, being used for noise cancelling, our Dual Noise Sensor technology captures ambient noise and passes the data to the trusted HD Noise Cancelling Processor QN1. Then a new BLUETOOTH Audio SoC (System on Chip) senses and adjusts to music and noise at over 700 times per second. Using a new algorithm, the HD Noise Cancelling Processor QN1 applies noise cancelling processing in real time. This allows the user to focus more on the music they love and blur out the chaos of the outside world.

Sony Electronics Inc. announced a new generation of media - the world's first CFexpress Type A memory cards, in both 80 GB and 160 GB, (CEA-G80T and CEA-G160T) as the most recent addition to Sony's TOUGH specification cards. Delivering high transfer speed, durability and reliability, Sony's new CFexpress Type A cards offer professional and stress-free performance for photographers and content creators.

Both the CEA-G80T (80 GB) and CEA-G160T (160 GB) use the latest flash memory control technology to achieve write speeds as high as 700 MB/s and read speeds as high as 800 MB/s, greatly reducing buffer clearing times for efficient, stress-free shooting. The CFexpress Type A cards are ideally suited for high-speed continuous shooting of more than 1,000 uncompressed RAW still images, as well as 4K 120p movie recording at high bit rates with the Slow & Quick Motion function when paired with new Alpha 7S III, which features two CFexpress Type A compatible media slots, that also support UHS-I and UHS-II SDXC/SDHC cards, for simultaneous media capture or extended continuous recording of even the highest bit rate data. Compliance with the VPG400 video performance guarantee profile specification ensures stable video recording at 400 MB/s-creating a smooth workflow for professional creators.

According to the Bloomberg report, Sony has reportedly doubled Playstation 5 orders and plans to ship 10 million units this fiscal year. Originally, Sony wanted to ship 5-6 million units between November of this year and March 31st of 2021. However, Sony is seeing a very high demand for its next-generation console and it had to double the production orders. Being manufactured in Kisarazu, Japan, the company can assemble two Playstation 4 consoles every minute, which is pretty impressive and gives hope that Sony can satisfy the demand for the new console. When the manufacturing costs of the console are broken down into parts, memory is making for more than half of it. The super-fast PCIe 4.0 SSD and GDDR6 memory cost about $250 combined. Reports are suggesting that the entire console costs an amazing $450 to manufacture.

The Sony Corporation today announced plans to invest $250 million to acquire a minority interest in Epic Games Inc. This investment represents a 1.4% ownership of the company and gives Epic a valuation of nearly $18 billion. This investment solidifies the strong existing relationship between the two companies at a time when Sony is preparing to release the PlayStation 5. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has publicly praised the upcoming console calling it a "remarkably balanced device" and praised its innovative SSD. The Sony Corporation will join Tencent and various other companies who own significant stakes in the company. The merger is still subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals and it is unsure when or if this will be granted.

SonyThe investment allows Sony and Epic to aim to broaden their collaboration across Sony's leading portfolio of entertainment assets and technology, and Epic's social entertainment platform and digital ecosystem to create unique experiences for consumers and creators.

Prices of Sony's various PlayStation 5 components just hit the web, thanks a Cowcotland report citing IronManPS5, a source with high reliability with PlayStation 5 leaks. To begin with, the standard PlayStation 5 console, which includes one Dual Sense controller, is priced at 499€. This console includes a Blu-ray disc drive so you could keep a physical library of all your games. Additional Dual Sense controllers can be bought for 59€ a piece. The PlayStation 5 Digital edition, which lacks an optical drive and makes you rely entirely on your Internet connections to get games, is priced a whopping 20% less, at 399€.

Other hardware accessories include an elegant recharging station for the Dual Shock controllers at 29€, which can recharge up to two controllers at a time; a wireless Media Remote accessory that lets you use your PS5 as a streaming entertainment device for your TV, priced at 29€, and an HD stereo web-camera for 59€. One accessory that stands out is the Pulse 3D wireless gaming headset for the PS 5, by Sony, which uses a high quality audio setup from Sony, priced at 179€. The PlayStation 5 family is expected to be available from November 14, 2020.

Phil Spencer, head of Xbox at Microsoft, said in an interview that he is confident in the Xbox Series X's hardware advantages against Sony's PS5. After witnessing PS5's reveal, Phil said that he "felt good after seeing their show. I think the hardware advantages that we have built are going to show up as we're talking more about our games and frame rates and other things." Being a good sport as he usually is, Phil Spencer also said that he felt Sony had done a good job with their PS5 announcement.

Of course, Xbox Series X's hardware advantage over PS5 is a hotly debated topic already, so there is not much to see there. However, some might say that Sony's show was much more impressive than Xbox's when it comes to the - well - platform-defining metric - games. PS5 showed some very interesting exclusives during its show, and Sony knows that this a field where they have an historic advantage against Xbox - generally speaking, Sony's exclusives are usually held in a much higher regard that Microsoft's.

Thanks to the report of ZDnet, we have information that Sony has launched a bug bounty program for its Playstation console. Sony will pay security researches upwards of $50K for a bug they discover. Of course, there are smaller rewards and it depends on what type of bug is discovered. The starting amount for the bug bounty program is $100. The area of bug exploits includes Playstation Network, the PlayStation 4 console itself, and the PS4 operating system. The bug bounty program is going to be available and managed through the HackerOne platform, where multiple companies like PayPal, Slack, etc. keep track of bugs and offer rewards for them. You can check out the Playstation bug bounty program here.

CD Projekt Red has announced that their upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 will be upgraded, free of charge, to a revised version in the wake of both next-gen console systems from Sony and Microsoft being released. This means that users who ordered (or will order) the game for current-gen systems will see their version be automatically upgraded to a next-gen one when they boot up their next-generation games console. This next-generation re-release of Cyberpunk 2077 will take advantage of the new consoles' much increased horsepower in both graphics and storage system terms.

The update, much like the game, will be ready "when it's ready". Only CD Projekt Red knows when it is hoping to release this update. We would think that a release next-year, after the entire planned DLC packages for the game are released, would be a great time to launch the updated version and re-release the game for next-gen systems as a "Game of the Year" version or a next--gen remaster. Of course, PC users don't have to fiddle with any of these upgrades - we'll be getting the games definitive version, including ray tracing support, on day one.

Sony today via a livestream finally showcased their hardware design for the next generation of consoles, and let's get one thing right out of the way: the company will be launching two console versions. This is a relatively unexpected twist - unexpected, because if anything, we were expecting two new consoles from Microsoft (remember the Lockhart rumors?), not from Sony. However, the PS5 will be eventually launching in two versions - a mainline console, and an all-digital spinoff.

For now, details are all but absent - the only thing we know for sure is that the digital version of the PS5 won't be carrying a 4K BluRay player. That will undoubtedly reduce the final pricing of the digital version compared to the mainline console. It's unclear whether this console has some sort of streaming integration with a service such as PS Now, offloading games processing to the cloud. If it doesn't, though, and if the only hardware difference between the two versions is the presence of the 4K BluRay player, we're likely talking about a $100/€100 difference - tops. Remember that the Xbox One S, which currently retails for around $250, too possesses a 4K Blu Ray player, so there's only so much that can be recouped from cutting that particular hardware piece. As you might've guessed by now, pricing is still being manifested as if it were a unicorn.

Sony was supposed to reveal its PlayStation 5 next-generation game collection at an online event held on June 4, which never happened. Sony called off the June 4th event in the wake of political unrest in the U.S. The company has now put out a new schedule for its PlayStation 5 Reveal event: June 11, 2020, at 13:00 PT. At the event, Sony is widely expected to showcase the console's capabilities some more; announce a few debut exclusive game titles, and more.

Sony Electronics Inc. announces the launch of Generation 3 ("Gen 3") PetaSite Optical Disc Archive technology, which is now shipping. The high-capacity archival storage solution scales from 165 TB to 2.9 PB of immutable optical storage in a standard 42U Rack. This launch follows Sony's recently announced Gen 3 high-capacity USB desktop drive units (ODS-D380U), fibre-channel library drive units (ODS-D380F) and 5.5 TB media cartridges (ODC5500R).

Sony's enterprise optical disc archive solution provides secure, immutable data preservation for a wide variety of applications and industries, including: corporate IT, state and local governments, surveillance, banking, education and healthcare, among others. In keeping with Sony's commitment to its customers and focus on long-term archive solutions, The Gen 3 enterprise class eight-channel, dual-sided optical drive is write compatible to Generation 2 and backward read compatible to all Optical Disc Archive cartridges.

Microsoft has been praised for its continued support of previous console generations with the latest Xbox Series X maintaining compatibility with some games going back to the original Xbox along with controller and accessory inter compatibility. It seems that for the first few years most games will be released for both the Xbox One and Xbox Series X families of consoles. Sony seems to be taking a much conservative approach and hoping to take full advantage of the new PS5 features and updated DualSense controller to create iconic exclusives for the console.

In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Sony's Interactive Entertainment's CEO, Jim Ryan confirmed that the company plans to create games "that can really only be enjoyed on PS5." This approach will likely irritate PS4 users who have invested heavily in the console with controllers and other accessories, Sony believes that this approach will help the company to make the most out of their new console hardware.

Sony Interactive Entertainment is expected to hold a virtual launch event on June 4, 2020, where it is expected to finally reveal the design, packaging, inclusions, initial exclusive game library, and more importantly price, of the next-generation PlayStation 5 game console. The event is scheduled for 1 PM PDT, and will be live-streamed. In related news, in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, CEO Jim Ryan confirmed that the PlayStation 5 won't be cheap, at least not cheaper than the rumored sub-$500 pricing of the Xbox Series X. "I think the best way that we can address this is by providing the best possible value proposition that we can. I don't necessarily mean lowest price. Value is a combination of many things. In our area it means games, it means number of games, depth of games, breadth of games, quality of games, price of games... all of these things and how they avail themselves of the feature set of the platform," he said.

We're all counting down the days till we rejoin Ellie in her journey next month, and today, we are thrilled to announce the Limited Edition The Last of Us Part II PlayStation 4 Pro bundle, which will launch alongside the game on June 19, 2020. This special bundle features a fully customized matte finish PS4 Pro console engraved with Ellie's tattoo design, a Limited Edition DualShock 4 Wireless Controller, a physical copy of The Last of Us Part II game, as well as a code to redeem digital content such as The Last of Us Part II PS4 dynamic theme, avatars, and more. This limited edition bundle will be available across the U.S. and Canada for $399.99 USD (MSRP) / $499.99 CAD (MSRP).

The Limited Edition DualShock 4 Wireless Controller also will be available as a standalone for $64.99 USD (MSRP) / $74.99 CAD (MSRP). Presented in a Steel Black matte finish with white detailing and PlayStation shapes, this Limited Edition wireless controller features Ellie's iconic fern tattoo engraved on the lower right hand side and The Last of Us Part II logo on the touchpad.

Sony in the buildup for the launch of the PlayStation 5 has announced a new umbrella initiative focusing on its first-party studios. The new PlayStation studios umbrella will serve as a marketing branding for their first-party games, similar to Microsoft's Game Studios, which will make it loud and clear that a game has been developed in partnership with Sony. This might not mean much by itself, but it could, speculatively, serve as a way for Sony to extend its brand image to platforms other than the PS5 - case in point, PC.

Sony has already been bringing its first-party, exclusive games to the PC for a while now - Quantic Dream has already brought its full cadre of games to the PC, and Guerrilla will be launching their much-acclaimed Horizon: Zero Dawn this summer (still waiting for God of War, Sony, make it happen). This new branding initiative will appear in game trailers and in game boot sequences, but will only be imparted in games come the PS5 launch in Holiday 2020.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon was one of last week's game reveals via Microsoft's Xbox 20/20 program, which aims to provide monthly digital events leading up to the Xbox Series X's release in "Holiday 2020". Up to now, the new console release was expected somewhere around November. However, a retail listing of Yakuza: Like a Dragon has set an October 23rd release date for the title. And since it was announced as being an Xbox Series X day one title, that places the new Xbox console's launch right alongside it. The Yakuza: Like a Dragon listing has been posted by a small Finnish retailer, who apparently only posts release dates when they have been all but confirmed.

Previous rumors had already put forth a PS5 release in October, due to a job listing for one of its collaborators mentioning that month as the release window. However, Sony has already come public saying that the expected October release date is not an official stance on the matter, thus killing our aspirations. However and whenever these consoles launch, it's bound to be an interesting back-and-forth between the two companies as they jockey for position amongst consumers' wallets - both with their respective release dates and launch pricing. Look after the break for the official trailer for Yakuza: Like a Dragon.

Both Sony and Microsoft are expected to soon launch their next-generation consoles, which are highly anticipated among console gamers as they will bring some of the latest advancements in graphics, like ray tracing. The current situation in the world is that everything is slowed down due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Companies across the world have mostly slowed down their production lines due to the less demand, however, AMD has done exactly the opposite for their custom SoC customers. In wake of expected high demand, AMD has ramped up its production lines so it can supply Sony and Microsoft for their next-generation consoles—PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. This is an encouraging sign that the demand is going to be strong - and that AMD is up to the task of delivering.

Sony has revealed the design for DualSense, which will bring the sense of touch to PS5 gameplay. The new controller introduces haptic feedback, adaptive triggers for L2 / R2, a new "Create" button to replace "Share" and a microphone array built in.

We've reached an exciting milestone with PlayStation 5, as we're starting to ship our new controller in its final design to developers who are implementing its unique features into their games. But first, we wanted everyone in the PlayStation community to get a first look at the DualSense wireless controller, and hear our vision for how the new controller will captivate more of your senses as you interact with the virtual worlds in PS5 games. The features of DualSense, along with PS5's Tempest 3D AudioTech, will deliver a new feeling of immersion to players.