More Evidence for New Consoles Emerges

New comments from leading chip-maker AMD seem to back up the reports and rumors about new consoles, teasing multiple new systems are coming as early as this year. Speaking during its latest earnings briefing, AMD CEO Lisa Su referenced three "design wins" for the company's Semi-Custom unit.

The PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Wii U all use some form of AMD technology. Su told investors and analysts during a briefing that the three "design wins" are pegged to bring in $1.5 billion for AMD in the next few years, suggesting they are substantial offerings.

In her comments, reported by Gi.biz, Su made clear that "not all of the designs" will come to bear in calendar year 2016. The release dates for the rumored PS4.5 and NX have not been announced, while Microsoft's vague comments about new Xbox One hardware also did not come with an suggestions of release timing.

"In addition [to the new design wins] we have our current game console business as well," Su said. "So when you look at the aggregate of that, we do expect to start ramping that new business in the second half of the year. But we also expect the seasonal uplift of our traditional game console business. So that's adding to what we expect will be a strong year for Semi-Custom overall."

Investors asked Su to share more details regarding the purpose and nature of the new designs, but she did not give anything away. "I don't believe that we've gone through any detail about what those wins are. So I would prefer to let that come out as our customers are ready to launch," she said.

The NX is rumored to be a console/mobile hybrid, so it may be that two of AMD's "design wins" are accounted for by the NX--one for the console and one for the mobile device, if that is indeed how the system works.

For more on this story, head to Gi.biz.

The leaked PS4.5 specifications that emerged this week specifically mentioned AMD technology. We have yet to see anything that details the guts of the NX or whatever new hardware Microsoft may be working on.

For its part, Nintendo has said it will begin to discuss the NX this year, while Microsoft is reportedly experimenting with a "variety" of Xbox devices. Microsoft also recently said it plans to discuss things "beyond" Xbox One and Windows 10 in the coming weeks and months.