Despite having confirmed it will not unveil the Xbox 720 during its upcoming E3 2012 conference, new reports have suggested Microsoft has already begun the manufacturing process on its next-generation console.
With Microsoft continuing to prolong the lifecycle of its current Xbox 360 gamer industry blog IGN has suggested that manufacturing partner Flextronics has already started piecing together the console that will eventually rival the Nintendo Wii U and heavily rumoured Sony PS4.
"Prior to reaching the manufacturing stage, Flextronics created a new testing group separate from the rest of the company," the newly outed report has claimed. "This team was solely dedicated to comprehensive marketing, software, and hardware tests of the next Xbox. With that activity concluded, Flextronics started building the hardware."
Whilst it is likely that such hardware will be for development purposes as opposed to consumer release models, the reports, if accurate, mark an important phase in the next-generation console’s birth with studios already confirmed to have been working on future console titles for some time.
"While we appreciate all the interest in our long-range plans for the future, we can confirm that there will be no talk of new Xbox hardware at E3 or anytime soon," Microsoft’s head of corporate PR, David Dennis said in a recent interview. He added: "For us, 2012 is all about Xbox 360 - and it's the best year ever for Xbox 360. The console is coming off its biggest year ever-a year in which Xbox outsold all other consoles worldwide."
