PS4 Based On Existing Cell Processor?

Japanese tech news site PC Watch is reporting that as a cost-saving measure, Sony “has begun seriously considering” basing the upcoming PlayStation 4 on the same Cell processor that currently powers the PS3.

Though citing no sources in particular, PC Watch claims that Sony is currently soliciting developer reactions to the idea. They speculate that while Sony would like to distance themselves from the Cell in the long run, at present they might do well to make use of their existing investment and expand the technical capabilities of the PS3 only moderately — a la the hardware transition from GameCube to Wii — in order to constrain further expenditure.

In a long technical analysis following the report, PC Watch voices the opinion that the PS4’s performance would not increase significantly from that of the PS3 if this is true. While Moore’s Law and the historical rate at which Sony has shrunk processors size would suggest that the Cell processor could reach as many as 32 cores, PC Watch expects that the cost of redesigning the Cell’s layout — which has apparently remained the same as it has shrunk from 90nm to 65nm, and from 65nm to 45nm — would be prohibitive enough that Sony will stick with around 10 cores for the PS4.

PC Watch also apparently heard that Sony is considering standard JEDEC memory for this iteration, as opposed to the PS3’s expensive XDR. They believe this means that the PS4 will use DDR3.

Hardware geeks: if all this is true, how disappointed will you be? Or, perhaps more importantly, what do you estimate a PS4 like this will cost a few years down the road?