A new report from tech site Fudzilla claims that the chip for the next generation Xbox, allegedly codenamed Oban, went into production in late December of 2011. This early run is apparently destined for dev kits, which will be shipping out to developers in the coming months.
According to the report, Microsoft's next-gen console will be centered around a PowerPC CPU being manufactured by IBM and Global Foundries, linked to a ATI GPU based on the 7000 series. These early runs are apparently heading into the first batch of development kits, which are expected to be shipped out to studios sometime in March or April.
This latest rumor puts a kibosh on the theory that the Xbox 720 will be on store shelves in time for the holidays.The chips are still about a year away being ready for a full production run, and if developers have yet to get their hands on early hardware, there's zero chance that any noteworthy launch titles will be finished in time for a 2012 launch.
If all these rumors are based in reality, a 2013 launch is the far more likely scenario, though we might well hear something firm about the console at E3 in June.
