Sony spends $1.2 billion to build chips faster

Higher than expected demand for the Sony PlayStation2 chipset, including the graphically sophisticated "Emotion" engine, has prompted the Japanese company to boost production both for the game console and for sale to third party vendors who want the chip for other broadband entertainment and Internet appliances. Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) says it will build new chip lines at a plant it runs jointly with Toshiba Corp. and expects the facility to be completed by January next year and production to begin by April.

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