Intel Delaying Broadwell Processors To Early 2014 Due To Production Issues

CNET reports that Intel is delaying its production of Broadwell micrprocessors by a quarter from Q4 2013 to Q1 2014. The reasoning behind the delay is that Intel has experienced a “defect density issue” with Broadwell that has impacted the yields and number of usable chips. Normally Intel would insert a fix after discovering defective chips but in the case of Broadwell those fixes didn’t deliver expected results so Intel had to modify them, and this all took some time. Intel says it has now grappled with the problems and has the required fixes in place, but the problems have caused a delay – hence the pushing back of production to early 2014.

“We have confidence the problem is fixed because we have data it is fixed,” Intel CEO Brian Krzanich said. “This happens sometimes in development phases like this. That’s why we moved it a quarter.”

Intel’s CEO asserted that Skylake, Broadwell’s successor, will not be affected by Broadwell’s delays and should still be delivered on time. The delay could work in Intel’s favour giving them the opportunity to fully profit on existing Haswell and Ivy Bridge inventories that are still in the market. Broadwell will probably be Intel’s most important release of 2014 allowing it to further gain traction in the notebook and tablet markets. Broadwell is expected to bring more power efficiency and more performance over its predecessor Haswell.

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