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Technology Stocks : Intel Corporation (INTC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tenchusatsu who wrote (86604)	8/4/1999 9:12:00 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 186894

Qualification issues stall Intel's mobile Coppermine processor By Mark Hachman Electronic Buyers' News (08/04/99, 08:39:18 PM EDT) Intel Corp. will release both of its Coppermine chips later this fall, delaying the version used in notebook PCs to allow a roughly simultaneous release. According to industry sources and one OEM, PC makers have pushed out the introduction of systems equipped with the mobile version of the Coppermine until they can resolve qualification issues. The resulting delay will postpone the availability of notebook PCs that support the new chip, which in turn will affect Intel's volume production timetable. Coppermine is the code name for Intel's Pentium III microprocessor, manufactured on a 0.18-micron process and integrating 256 Kbytes of level 2 cache. Officially, however, the mobile chip has not been delayed, according to Intel, which apparently is able to manufacture enough volumes to meet current demand. "There has been no change to our public guidance," said a spokesman at the company's Santa Clara, Calif., headquarters. Privately, industry sources tell a different story. Unofficially, sources say, Intel is sampling the mobile Coppermine as originally scheduled, but OEMs have encountered difficulties testing the chips in their different configurations. Intel's mobile microprocessors ship in four different packaging options, and each must be individually tested across a notebook OEM's product line to ensure stability. The problem lies not so much in any flaw in the chip's design as in the fact that OEMs ran out of time before they could qualify the device to run in their systems, industry sources said. And because Intel historically waits to roll out its new microprocessors until its PC customers are ready to launch their platforms, the mobile Coppermine is stalled at the gate. A specific release date was not disclosed by sources, but they expected both the desktop and mobile Coppermine chips to be introduced in October. In June, Intel said it would postpone the desktop Coppermine chip until about November, replacing it with a Pentium III processor without on-chip cache, manufactured on the coarser 0.25-micron process. A ship date for the mobile Coppermine was not disclosed, although analysts assumed that the chip was still on track for an August release. Intel executives said in June that the mobile Coppermine would ship on time but at a slower clock speed, which observers attributed to difficulties ramping the 0.18-micron process. In fact, Intel already has begun shipping 0.18-micron mobile microprocessors-not of the Coppermine variety, but versions of the current Pentium II, the spokesman said. ebnews.com