任天堂Wii U能否拯救瑞萨电子？

我很希望看到任天堂(Nintendo)即将推出的 Wii U 游戏机。为何如此要关心？是因为其中采用了许多瑞萨电子(Renesas Electronics)的组件。 我并不是一个游戏玩家，但在任天堂即将推出 Wii U之际，我立即注意到了这个消息。任天堂预计 11月18日在美国发售，接下来分别于11月30日和12月8日开始在欧洲和澳洲上市。 通过 Wii U 的详细拆解报告（请点击这里查看《任天堂Wii U拆解探秘》），我们知道，任天堂采用的是多芯片模块(MCM)──该模块在单一基板上整合了了多核心CPU和GPU ，以及内建内存。这颗 MCM 组件内含 IBM 采用45nm制程的 CPU 芯片，以及由瑞萨制造的 AMD GPU 芯片。 在 MCM 中整合来自不同公司的芯片并不是新闻。但对任天堂的工程团队来说，他们必须面对许多挑战。这颗 MCM 组件必须降低延迟和功耗，而且还必须减小硬件的整体尺寸──这也是任天堂的首要目标。 任天堂公司游戏暨硬件设计部门总裁 Satoru Iwata 曾在接受网站视频采访时提到 Wii U 在内部硬件及设计挑战。 瑞萨科技还未证实该公司是否赢得了任天堂下一代游戏机的设计订单。但任天堂曾在季度财务电话会议中提到，瑞萨收到了“来自娱乐领域的大宗客制化SoC订单”。

这会是瑞萨唯一的机会吗？
gfhesmc

任天堂的成功设计，是前NEC电子工程团队的专业明证。 NEC电子在与瑞萨科技合并前，曾负责为任天堂 GameCube 和 Wii 生产 GPU 。 Wii U的设计胜利，是瑞萨黯淡业绩中的少数亮点之一。欧洲电子产业正面临长期债务忧虑，而中国市场则持续放缓。 本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载 本文下一页：瑞萨电子半导体销售成绩

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{pagination} 截至今年9月30日的瑞萨第二季财报已将供应给任天堂 Wii U 的 GPU 包含在内，与第一季相比，Q2的SoC销售增长了20.6%，从344亿日圆成长至550亿日圆。大部分的成长来自用于任天堂游戏机的GPU。

瑞萨电子半导体销售成绩。
Source:瑞萨电子gfhesmc

在大型订制项目如SoC带动下，Q2半导体销售额提高22% 瑞萨表示，该公司期待游戏应用的订制SoC销售将持续增加。 当然，若 Wii U 成绩不振，则所有的预测都是空谈。 本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载 编译： Joy Teng 参考英文原文：Yoshida in Japan: Can Wii U save Renesas?，by Junko Yoshida

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• 东芝与瑞萨纾困之计：调整重组及扩大委外代工gfhesmc

{pagination} Yoshida in Japan: Can Wii U save Renesas? Junko Yoshida TOKYO -- I’m not an avid gamer (well, I’m not a gamer at all, unless you count Scrabble). But I am keen to find out how Nintendo’s upcoming Wii U launch will fare. It goes on sale in the U.S. on Nov. 18, in Europe and Australia on Nov. 30 and here on Dec. 8. Why should I care? Because Renesas Electronics has a lot riding on the Wii U launch. Although no teardown specialists have worked on the Wii U yet, we know Nintendo is using a multichip module (MCM) containing both a multicore CPU and GPU along with on-chip memory on a single substrate. The MCM integrates IBM’s CPU die based on its 45-nm process technology and a Renesas-manufactured AMD’s GPU die. Combining dies manufactured by different companies on a single component has been done before. It’s no cakewalk. But the challenge is paying off for Nintendo’s engineering team. The MCM reduces latency and power consumption while reducing the overall size of the hardware – Nintendo's primary goal. Some of Wii U’s internal hardware and design challenges were discussed on Nintendo's Web site in a video segment in which company president Satoru Iwata interviewed Nintendo's chief game and hardware designers. Renesas hasn't confirmed its design win for Nintendo’s next-generation game machine. Nintendo did mention that Renesas received “a large-scale SoC custom order from the amusement sector” during a conference call on its quarterly financial results. Only bright spot for Renesas? The Nintendo design win is a testament to the engineering expertise of the former NEC Electronics’ team. NEC Electronics, before its merger with Renesas, was responsible for the production of GPUs for Nintendo GameCube and Wii. The Wii U design win is one of the few bright spots for Renesas on an otherwise bleak horizon. The European electronics industry is facing prolonged debt worries while the Chinese market continues to slow. China sales for Japanese car makers, a key Renesas clients, have been hit by a popular backlash against Japanese products after a territorial dispute flared up again. Renesas’ Q2 financial results that ended Sept. 30 already incorporated the sales of GPUs for Nintendo’s Wii U. Compared to Q1, sales of SoCs in the Q2 jumped 20.6 percent to 55 billion yen from 34.4 billion yen. Most of the increase is believed to come from GPUs for Nintendo. Renesas Electronics Semiconductor Sales Source: Renesas Electronics Q2 semiconductor sales improved by 22%, driven by large custom projects like SoCs Renesas said it continues to expect sales of custom SoCs in the gaming segment to increase. All bets are off, of course, if Wii U turns out to be a dud.