It is a well known fact that Microsoft are currently engaged in a struggle with hardware suppliers in order to reduce costs for the next XBox. There is however, some evidence that suggests that the name of the XBox heir may have already been decided... and it's not XBox 2.
First things first, the suppliers of the next XBox's hardware have not yet been determined. As far as the GPU is concerned a whole web of negotiations has been set by Microsoft, involving ATI, the newcomer to the XBox equation and nVidia the current supplier. For the time being the whole dispute has nothing to do with polygons or performance but focuses on royalties, the amount of money the supplier will receive from Microsoft for every unit sold.
Analysts claim that nVidia, who have been complaining about the USD 5 they make for each XBox sold, don't want to fall below that amount and they would rather see it go up. That is where ATI think they may have an advantage, their deal with Nintendo on the GC makes them USD 2.25, the MS console however, is a totally different story. Couple that with whatever technical dreams Microsoft have for the next XBox and you can see why both companies agree that the terms laid out for production of the GPU are verging on the impossible. Intel are not making things easier since they claim that the earnings brought in by royalties from the XBox are insignificant.
It is not surprising that both ATI and nVidia are putting all their might behind desktop domination and are focusing strongly on their flagship boards.
Insiders have confirmed that large quantities of nVidia's GFX cards will be available in late February and that the company plans to release the NV31 in the first half of 2003.
ATI on the other hand have confirmed that they plan to release the RV350, their .13 micron card, in the spring of this year. They also stated that by that time they will have more .13 products on the market than their rivals.
XBox Next?
The same analysts brought up an interesting find concerning the name Microsoft are planning to use for their next XBox. A search for xboxnext.com will show that that particular name is registered to MS. It is possible that they are rushing to buy all XBox related domains in order to better secure their product but the nature of the name suggests that there may be something more to it than that.
