Not too long ago there had been rumblings about 2 new PS3 SKUs making their way through the FCC. With 250gb machines not being replenished after the holiday season, most people (myself included) believed there might have been a refresh with extra hard drive space on the way. During GDC 2010 we learned that one of those SKUs would become the bundle that includes the PS Move. However, the second one was still up in the air.
Thanks to the guys over at PlayStation University we now know exactly what the second SKU is.
If you remember the launch of the slim back in the fall of 2009, Sony was able to bring down the price of the console by bringing down the price of the components inside. But while they were able to lower prices of the internals and consequently lower the price of the console by $100, they still weren't in a position where they could turn a profit on the machine. That is all about to change. Enter SKU: CECH 2101A.
While I'm probably not the best person to explain this, I'll break it down as easy as possible. When the PS3 originally launched and had the price tag of a beat-up used car, it was big and heavy and consumed as much power as a refrigerator. Since last fall, with the launch of the Slim, Sony has been able to shrink down the GPU and other internals dramatically.
Not only has this made the console more energy efficient but also more reliable as well (yellow light of death anyone?). Fast forward to 2010, and Sony has now been able to make the GPU even smaller from 65nm (nano-meters) down to 40nm. This in turn will increase reliability even more so as well as get Sony out of the red and into the black.
Now if only they get these internals smaller and smaller and into the next PSP. One can only dream.