Not really an error, at least not in theory.

In pratice though, its costing Sony alot of money...but in terms of gaming, its clear that its a great technology.

This doesn't mean future PS3's won't have the Cell incoporated or something like that, though :)

if the cell were so ultimate and important to Sony they would not let it go. Expect the next Playstation to come with a completely different CPU full of developement challenges..

this is weird that they are pulling out, i guess they are going somewhere different with the ps4 that doesnt require the cell??? but its not like we wont be seeing the cell though, ibm and toshiba are still going to be researching this out for future computers

thats a BIG TIME nut all over sonys face (im NOT an xbox fanboy i just like saying negative things bout ALL consoles) sony lost in like wat 2 yrs? that was REALLY FAST. first time sumthing didnt get delayed. well now sony fans should be proud of sony 4 actually over coming on the delay situation....KUDOS 4 SONY....

Read the article because some of the comments here are embarrassing. The title is misleading by the way.

Companies do this kinda thing all the time. Sony have been struggling financially fot a while and it makes sense to sell of their share in the cell and the manufacturing plants for a large cash injection and then buy them in as a customer, without having to front the bills for running the manufacture plants. It doesn't mean the cell is bad, it just means sony doesnt want to wait the long haul for the cell to turn a profit.
The company i work for (one of the largest in UK) sold loads of its buildings and then lease them back because it works out cheaper. The lump um money u get in can pay of some debt, and the money u save from interest helps pay the rent. same thing happening here.

that they found some new alien technology thats better then the CELL.

SOny might have spent a "little" bit more then they have expected. Also, the price drop of the PS3 seems to be earlier then planed. All what that says, is, that Sony might not have a reason at this time to keep spending money on the CELL. They have to get the PS3 to make profit first. A PS4 is far away, currently, if I'd be Sony (or MS or who ever) would ask the question, what would a PS4 bring to the table what you can't achieve with the PS3 at this point. In the long run, there might be an answer, but I think this vision will be established not within the next 2-3 years. If that time comes, then it might make sense to look into technology which is available. If Toshiba and IBM keep CELL dev up, well, they could still provide a next gen chip for a PS3 successor. I still think it has potential. But, I mean, what we are expecting from a PS4 (even more physics, AI and visuals - I leave the control scheme out, because this is not dependent of the HW (mainboard) as such) might be something completely different what e.g. Sony has in mind: $199 or below, with whatever makes it possible at this price point.

I think, currently they are doing the right thing. Focusing on the today and making the best out of it. It is pretty obvious, that Sony as a whole doesn't see their gaming division as the top priority - and the gaming division alone might not be able to finance a new cpu (or platform) - at this time.

I am still waiting for a big box CELL computer, which can play PS3 games...will never happen, what a shame.

THEY ARE NOT STOPPING ANY FUTURE CELL DEVELOPMENT,THEY ARE SIMPLY MAKING THE CELL CHIPS SMALLER.

YAAAAWN,GAMESPOT TRYING TO RUIN PLAYSTATION 3'S BIRTHDAY.

sony invested 1.7 in the cell, it will be lucky to get half of their money back if toshiba buys them out.

maybe toshiba can put them in their toasters, alarmclocks, and surround sound home theatre systems.

but you won't find them in computers. the chips only dedicated to console gaming. the cell is not capable of running a regular computer because it was not designed to.

lackluster ps3 sales. (or a I should say,"slow adoption")
along with a boatload of developers who would rather code on something more familiar and lackluster support among other things are the obvious reasons for it being jetisoned from the sony camp.

please believe their next chip will be much more user friendly, more powerful, and certainly not 32n or 48nano copies of the cell.

the cell is dead.
dead I tellz ya.

now with that fiasco out of the way. sony can move on and make a real gaming machine for the next generation.

but I have to admit, if the ps3 goes down in price another $50 - $100 I'll have to get one myself. a lot of hard work went into that box.

now that sony has finally wized-up, I wonder what m$ and nintendon't will do.

Sony is pulling out of development of 32nm manufacturing technologies. It has NOT pulled out of development of future Cell chips. IBM is the main driving force behind Cell manufacturing, thus its best to allow IBM to take control of the manufacturing process while Sony and Toshiba purchase said chips from IBM. All three are still focused on the development for a successor to Cell, which is going on as we speak.

this is interesting.
not surprised though.

Companies like sony and samsung are always innovating.......