Rumour: Next-gen Xbox hitting manufacturing stage

IGN's rumouring the next-gen Xbox has already hit the manufacturing stage.

Work has started in Austin, Texas at Flextronics, according to a site source. Flextronics is also the same manufacture of the original Xbox and Xbox 360.

We're going with IGN in that the hardware being worked on now at the company is more to do with assembling debugs for developers rather than retail SKUs.

"Xbox 360 has found new ways to extend its lifecycle like introducing the world to controller-free experiences with Kinect and re-inventing the console with a new dashboard and new entertainment content partnerships," said Microsoft in a statement.

"We are always thinking about what is next for our platform and how to continue to defy the lifecycle convention. Beyond that we do not comment on rumours or speculation."

Flextronics declined to comment.

Microsoft has already confirmed it doesn't intend to show any new next-gen hardware at its E3 press conference a month today.