Intel on Tuesday said its upcoming PC chip, dubbed Broadwell, will be delayed by a quarter.
CEO Brian Krzanich, speaking during a call discussing the company's third-quarter earnings, said Intel will begin production on Broadwell in the first quarter of 2014 rather than later this year.
[...]
The delay has been caused by a "defect density issue" that impacts the yields, or number of usable chips, Krzanich said. He noted that once defects are discovered, Intel inserts a set of fixes. In the case of Broadwell, the fixes didn't deliver all the improvements Intel had anticipated. However, Intel now believes it has all the required fixes in place, Krzanich said.
"We have confidence the problem is fixed because we have data it is fixed," Krzanich said. "This happens sometimes in development phases like this. That's why we moved it a quarter."
He added that Intel and its PC customers "have a strong desire to get Broadwell to market. If I could, there'd be nothing slowing me down. This is a small blip in the schedule, and we'll continue on from here."
Krzanich also said Skylake, the PC chip to follow Broadwell, won't be delayed.
[...]
Evercore analyst Patrick Wang said no one was really expecting a Broadwell delay, but the later release will give Intel more time to work through existing chip inventory already in the market.
Facebook
Twitter