TSMC: Xenon Chips on Schedule

Manufacturing plant says everything is proceeding according to plan.
September 20, 2004 - While Microsoft has yet to officially announce anything about its upcoming system, Xenon (Xbox 2), others have been doing the work for it. In a recent press conference, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, which is contracted to manufacture the chips designed and developed by IBM, ATI, and SIS, announced that its manufacturing plans for Xbox 2 chips are on schedule, according to Bloomberg news, and rebuffing rumors of delays.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Senior Vice President Kenneth Kin told the conference its manufacturing schedule is " proceeding according to plan."

The bigger question, however, regarding Xbox' s timing, remained unanswered. Several reports target Microsoft as releasing Xenon in fall 2005, but neither Kin, nor anyone else is willing to say. So presumably, " proceeding according to plan" probably means the system is still unofficially slated fall 2005.

Microsoft is believed to be jumping ahead of its rivals with a year start by launching Xenon in fall 2005, as Sony' s PlayStation 3 and Nintendo' s Revolution are not slated until sometime in 2006. Developers from all countries are currently endeavoring to create launch titles for the system for fall 2005, and we expect Microsoft to announce its next generation console plans sometime in spring 2005.

Source - IGN.com