Highlights
- The success of the PlayStation 4 helped save AMD from bankruptcy.
- Sony and AMD’s partnership led to the PS4’s custom APU, with the console’s 117 million units sold turning around both companies’ fortunes.
- The PS4’s success and continued partnership with Sony for the PS5 have placed AMD at the forefront of computer technology.
The PlayStation 4 helped component manufacturer AMD avoid bankruptcy, as per a senior employee at the company. With nearly 120 million units sold, the PS4 was not only a huge home run for Sony, but also pivotal for AMD to secure its future.
Sony joined forces with AMD to design the PS4’s custom APU (accelerated processing unit). The partnership came at a time when AMD wasn’t doing very well, with many analysts predicting that the Taiwanese manufacturer would go bankrupt by 2020. Sony was also reeling from its misfortunes during the PS3 generation, where the console’s expensive CELL chipset necessitated a $600 starting price at launch, which severely hampered accessibility and goodwill among fans while also complicating game development for studios. The infamous 2011 PlayStation Network hack further damaged Sony’s reputation.
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The PS4 was possibly Sony’s only chance to turn things around for itself in the console market, and it thankfully paid off. However, it appears AMD also benefited greatly from the PS4’s success, according to the LinkedIn resume of Renato Fragale, the senior director of AMD’s OEM consumer and gaming client division. The resume mentions a 15-person development team for the PS4’s APU, and that the console is “viewed as one of the most successful launches in AMD history helping AMD to avoid bankruptcy.” As of 2022, Sony has shipped over 117 million PS4s, placing it among the highest-selling consoles ever.
AMD Would’ve Gone Bankrupt If Not for the PS4
It comes as no surprise that AMD would be pleased with the PS4’s exceptionally high sales numbers, but to learn that the console helped save the entire company is unprecedented. It’s also worth noting that the Xbox One also used a similar AMD APU which was slightly less powerful, but the Microsoft console is estimated to have sold only half as many units as the PS4. Regardless, Sony and AMD extended their partnership for the PS5 as well, with the current-generation console’s integrated chip utilizing the RDNA 2 and Zen 2 architectures for its GPU and CPU, respectively.
However, the Xbox One’s and PS4’s combined commercial reception was undeniably key to driving a significant amount of growth for AMD in the past decade and allowing it to provide stiff competition for Nvidia, which could’ve possibly monopolized the PC component market if AMD went bankrupt. Today, AMD is at the forefront of portable graphics technology, with popular handheld consoles like the Steam Deck and ROG Ally using AMD chips. Meanwhile, the PS4 was such a monumental success for Sony that only half its userbase has upgraded to the PS5, with the other half still seemingly content with the last-gen machine.
PS4
- Brand
- Sony
- Original Release Date
- November 15, 2013
- Hardware Versions
- PS4 , PS4 Pro
- Original MSRP (USD)
- US$399.99, £349.99, €399.99
- Weight
- 1st Gen: 6.2 lbs.2nd Gen: 5.5 lbs.Slim: 4.6lbs.Pro: 7.3 lbs.
