With the power of the PS3's cell processor coming to the fore in the Folding@Home project, it comes as no surprise that several industries now appear keen to get in on the act themselves for a variety of commercial purposes.

Looking at current statistics from the Stanford-based initiative, a network of just 10,000 PS3 consoles can currently outperform the equivalent of 200,000 conventional PC processors, although obviously with the ever-increasing PC market that gap will close in the coming years.

Speaking to Forbes, Sony's chief technical officer Masa Chatani stated that the company had been approached by several industries following the success of the non-profit application, and was currently considering how best to approach any offers.

The problem of course lies with the users. Speaking as a PS3 owner myself, its one thing to help a University develop a potential medical cure for a serious ailment, but completely another to help develop the profit margin of a drugs company. Without being completely clear on what the processing cycles will be contributing towards, Sony may face an uphill struggle to convince PS3 owners to jump on board.